WINNIPEG – Trinidadian Richard Mangalee may have failed to set Assiniboia Downs alight this season but he made his mark on the season-ending programmes at the western Canada oval with back-to-back braces to finish his campaign on a high note.
Riding on Wednesday’s seven-race final day card, the 35-year-old produced a 1-1/2 length score in race three aboard 6-1 chance Witts Hurricane before returning to eke out a narrow win in race five with 5-1 bet Hoochiecoochie Sam.
Mangalee finished seventh in the standings on a disappointing 23 wins from 190 rides, as runaway leader Jorge Carreno formalised his title capture by ending on 80 wins from 267 appearances.
Trinidadian Stanley Chadee held on to take second spot in the standings with 49 wins from 271 rides but failed to taste success in any of his six outings on Wednesday.
Sheldon Chickeness was third on 48 while Jamaican Leroy Nelson finished fourth on 35 wins in his comeback season, with fellow countryman fifth on 28 and deposed champion Barbadian Antonio Whitehall, sixth on 24.
Last year, Chadee was also second but with 48 wins while Mangalee was fifth with 27.
Mangalee, the highlight of whose season was a four-timer back in June, had a bright day on Tuesday when he pulled off wins in race four with 2-1 bet My Father’s Eyes and in race seven with 3-1 choice Purrsistent.
And he kept up his decent form on Wednesday, first pairing with four-year-old bay gelding Witts Hurricane to beat the three-year-olds and upward going a mile.
Mangalee trailed with Witts Hurricane in the four-horse race for most of the trip before rallying in the stretch and getting by the leaders late.
His second success also came over a mile for the three-year-olds and upward when he steered six-year-old gelding Hoochiecoochie Sam to victory by a head.
Three-to-one chance Buckys Pick threw down the early fractions to lead by nearly three lengths at one stage before Mangalee brought Hoochiecoochie Sam from a stalking position on the outside to wear down the leaders.
CMC