Gold Rush in Reca Trophy

Orville Clarke, Gleaner Writer

Recent winner SEEK GOLD should take leading all-time jockey Winston 'Fanna' Griffiths closer to the 1600 winners mark at Caymanas Park today when she lines up for the Reca Trophy, a 1400-metre event for the claiming group $350,000-$300,000.

Griffiths starts the day on 1,596 wins locally and the five-time champion jockey and Hall of Famer has secured two rides on the 10-race programme - SEEK GOLD in the ninth and ADANNA in the closing race for three-year-olds over 1300 metres, both having good chances.

SEEK GOLD from the stables of Richie Phillipps ran on strongly over 1300 metres on August 18 to win by half a length from BROTHERLY LOVE and is still in good nick.

Among her rivals that day were SKIPPING SUE, MING LEI, RESTLESS MARQUE and SHEISMYHEART, who scored an upset win over 1600 metres on Wednesday.

SEEK GOLD had earlier beaten ALLTHEBEST and subsequent winner STOCK MARKET quite easily over the same distance on June 2, and despite facing seasoned campaigners such as the speedy CLASSY COMPANY, ORION, IL CAIMANO, NATURAL HEART and the recent winner BACK AT YOU, who is very fit, her final rattle should prove hard to withstand.

SEEK GOLD will find the distance just perfect and with CLASSY COMPANY, ORION, HEY TRAIN and BACK AT YOU expected to set a strong gallop, this should set it up nicely for the late-kicking SEEK GOLD. She is still bursting at the seams with fitness and with a jockey of Griffiths' calibre aboard, is not too high in the scales with 55.0kg to repeat.

CLASSY COMPANY under former champion jockey Shane Ellis looks the speediest in the line-up and should carry them into the straight from the outside post position, ahead of ORION and HEY TRAIN.

Strong connection

In the end, I am expecting ORION to prove the biggest danger to my selection SEEK GOLD, as the six-year-old mare is not only down in class to vie for this trophy, but looks nicely off at the scales with 52.0kg and in-form Paul 'Country' Francis aboard.

Historically, there is a strong connection between Griffiths and the 1976 Derby winner RECA in whose honour the race is run annually. Griffiths partnered RECA to win the 1979 Benson & Hedges Gold Cup for the late trainer Howard Phillipps.

Other firm fancies on the card are ROYAL IMPACT to win the second race, ANTIOCH in the fourth, the unbeaten American colt SIR VON to outfinish the progressive filly SEA DEVIL in the fifth, ROMEZ to rebound in the seventh and the improving MERIT'S BRITE LITE to repeat in the nightpan.