WINNIPEG – Established Jamaican jockey Neville Stephenson landed a double, including the CAN $51 050 featured Manitoba Oaks, and Caribbean jockeys won all but one of the races on Wednesday at the Assiniboia Downs racetrack in Canada.
Stephenson, who has ridden at several tracks across the country for close to two decades, now has 14 wins for the season, which opened on May 22, and he is eighth in the jockeys’ standings at the main racing facility in central Canada.
Barbadian jockey Damario Bynoe, who previously campaigned at the Century Mile racetrack in the western Canadian city of Edmonton in the province of Alberta, also logged a double and now has 24 wins for the season, and he is third in the standings.
Two-time champion and current leader Antonio Whitehall of Barbados, and former Trinidad & Tobago champion apprentice Sven Balroop also landed wins on the seven-race card.
Stephenson grabbed the headlines when he defied a rival in an intense stretch duel and prevailed by 1-3/4 lengths aboard the 3-1 bet Reasonably Lovely in the Manitoba Oaks, the penultimate race on the card over one mile on the dirt course.
Reasonably Lovely duelled four wide between three other horses into the first turn, and Stephenson got the three-year-old, chestnut filly to force the pace three wide down the backstretch and into the final turn.
Stephenson had to draw on his experience to enable Reasonably Lovely to win a stretch duel from the outside when she came under pressure from Olive’s Candy, under apprentice Fraser Aebly, gradually drawing her away from the middle of the stretch to clock one minute, 41.06 seconds.
Earlier, Stephenson scored a half-length win on the 6-5 favourite Lia’s On Tune in the CAN $10 400 claiming second race over five furlongs on the dirt.
It was an easier ride for Stephenson after Lia’s On Tune opened up early and the six-year-old, dark bay mare maintained her lead into the stretch and held on late for a time of 59.63 seconds.
Bynoe opened the day’s activities with a one-length win astride the 5-2 chance Damn the Torpedoes in the CAN $18 500 allowance optional claiming first race over six furlongs on the dirt.
Damn the Torpedoes duelled for the lead on the inside and Bynoe allowed the five-year-old, dark bay mare to give way into the stretch before he produced again on the outside and she took over late for a time of 1 min, 12.86 secs.
Bynoe later ended the day the same way he started when he guided the 2-1 bet Two Steps Faster to the narrowest of wins in the CAN $10 000 claiming final race over six furlongs on the dirt in one minute, 13.05 seconds.
Two Steps Faster hopped at the break and was put in a stalking position from the outside before Bynoe brought the eight-year-old, bay mare with a long rally to get her to the line by a nose.
In between, Whitehall earned his 32nd win of the season when he piloted the 3-2 favourite Dazzl’n Mischief to a half-length win in the CAN $10 400 claiming fifth race over five furlongs on the dirt.
He had Dazzl’n Mischief well placed on the outside and took over at the sixteenth pole before the eight-year-old, bay gelding opened up and held well to finish in 59.87 secs.
Balroop entered a two-way tie on 14 wins with Stephenson when he steered the 2-1 chance Arrogance to a convincing five-length win in the CAN $13 600 claiming third race over six furlongs on the dirt.
He put Arrogance to press on the outside and the three-year-old, chestnut gelding challenged in the stretch before taking over nearing the eighth pole and drawing away from his field from mid-stretch to clock 1:12.68.
CMC
