Thirty-nine-year-old trainer, Ryan Lalla Maharaj, sealed his second feature race winner in his career when he landed the feature Modified Benchmark Handicap for three-year-old and over horses rated 80-60 over on the main track at Santa Rosa Park, Arima on the resumption of racing, on June 28, Day 9 of the locl racing season.
Outsider Reggae Rhythm scored a massive gamble when upsetting the field at 23-1. He saddled Reggae Rhythm, to swoop and conquer at the distance and ran away from his rivals, under Keiron Razack.
Maharaj, who has had his trainer licence for four years, has produced 15 winners so far in his career but he was heartened by the win of Reggae Rhythm.
"The win for Reggae Rhythm was a great one for me as I have never won a feature event in my short career. This horse came to my stable about nine weeks ago and he had problems but nothing that love and care could not solve. We spent quite a lot of time working on him and introduced him to a new programme which has worked for him," said Maharaj, whose first feature winner was Trini Navigator at this time, last season.
"Coming into the race, we all thought that he would run a big race as he bloomed in the past month. I told the rider that he should be patient as he would be behind early but that was not to be as he was up with the race tracking the leaders on the outside.
"In his career, he would always give away distance in his races early. When I looked at the race and saw where he was coming to the corner, I knew he was going to win. He stayed on really well and what was really good was the manner in which he pulled away with 300 metres to race."
As the horses swung for home, Desert Dancer still held sway from Integrity with Reggae Rhythm being produced on the outside. With 200m left, Reggae Rhythm was sent for home and he opened up a two-length gap on his nearest pursuer.
At the line, Reggae Rhythm was a comfortable winner by 1 3/4 lengths from Regal Intension which was running on in the closing stages with American Dillon nabbing Desert Dancer on the line for third money.
"This was a good winner for me and those punters who have backed him on so many occasions. I was happy that punters landed a punch with his 23-1 odds. He has come out of the race well and could well land the double," said Maharaj.
The young trainer, who has a stable of seven, will no doubt continue to improve as a trainer and could well be at the top of the trainers' team in time to come.
He said, "I have a small stable but my stable is a well-coordinated unit. We all work for the benefit of our stable. We work as a team and we have worked hard for my success and that of the team. I have loved the racing game from an early age in Marabella. I lived closed to the where the Old Union Park racecourse was located when the legendary Eric 'Colt' Durant was based.
"I train horses for owners at the lower end of the ratings. At the moment, I don't have top quality horses in my stable but I know as my success improve, I will attract bigger owners and get some really top-class horses in my stable. But, I know that Reggae Rhythm will hold a great chance of repeating his success when next he lines up to race."