Nelson stays close to leaders with double

EDMONTON, Alberta (CMC):

Former Jamaica champion Dane Nelson rode a double on the nine-race card on Saturday at the Century Mile racetrack in Canada, to stay in step with the leading jockeys.

He was the only English-speaking Caribbean reinsman to make it into winners row and moved his aggregate to 10 wins for the season, which opened on May 6.

Barbadian N’Rico Prescod has the same number of wins, and they are third and fourth, respectively, in the jockeys’ standings behind leader Jose Asencio, on 12, and Alexander Marti, on 11.

Nelson opened his account with the narrowest of wins – a nose – on the 5-1 bet Singing Bell in the CAN $19,000 fifth race over 1 300 metres on the dirt.

He put Singing Bell into a stalking position on the inside and challenged for the lead at the quarter pole before he got the three-year-old, bay filly to hold on under steady pressure for a time of one minute, 17.35 seconds.

Nelson followed up with a two-length win on the 7-1 choice Carson’s Legacy in the CAN $10,545 eighth race over one mile on the dirt.

Carson’s Legacy angled to the rail early then stalked the pacesetters, and Nelson waited for running room in the final turn before circling into the lane and giving the four-year-old, dark bay gelding the cue to let loose in the stretch for a time of one minute 38.60 seconds.