Fit Antioch upsets overnight field

Orville Clarke, Gleaner Writer

Stepping up in class, the recent winner ANTIOCH showed vast improvement to score an upset victory in the 3-y-o and up overnight allowance race over 1100 metres at muddy Caymanas Park yesterday.

Neglected in the betting at 12-1 despite winning in restricted company on the previous Saturday, ANTIOCH, running with a mere 48.0kg under lightweight jockey Peter Bryan, won by a length from the fast-finishing American mare THEBANDISLOOSE (16-1) with lightweight apprentice Richard Cole aboard, and another neck to recent winner TOP COMMANDER (4-1), the mount of female apprentice Georgina Sergeon.

Fourth went to the 4-5 favourite LITTLE WASP who, though racing prominently into the straight under champion jockey Omar Walker, failed to quicken in the underfoot conditions.

ANTIOCH raced close up from soon after the start as highly fancied REAL MINISTER (3-1) led under pressure from NEW KINGSTON and NATURALLY ROYAL. As they swung into the straight, ANTIOCH surged into the lead and held on by the diminishing margin of a length, as THEBANDISLOOSE, who was outpaced and forced to come wide into the straight, closed rapidly on the outside for second.

Favourites

This was ANTIOCH's fifth win from 14 starts this season and she pushed her lifetime earnings to $1.8 million. The four-year-old bay filly by Burning Marque out of Imagine is owned by Mr Bojangles, trained by Gresford Smith and bred by William McCalla.

On what turned out to be a tough day for form players, only three favourites obliged on the 10-race programme.

These were the marginal 4-5 favourite NEPTUNE who got through in the stewards' room following the disqualification of first-past-the-post RESTLESS MARQUE in the third race over 1500 metres, the Wayne DaCosta-trained American 2-y-o debutante PENTHOUSE SWEET (1-4) who made all to win from her lesser fancied stable-companion LUSCIOUS (37-1) in the fifth race over 1200 metres, and the recent Jockey Club Stakes winner MEDICAL REPORT (made most) at 6-5 in the closing Alex's Imports 'Dig Out' Handicap over 1500 metres for high claimers.

RESTLESS MARQUE (Clive Lynch up) and NEPTUNE (Dane Nelson) featured in a tremendous stretch duel which went down to the wire. The Desmond Shand-trained RESTLESS MARQUE was adjudged the winner by a short head, only to be disqualified for repeatedly bumping into Dwight Chen's NEPTUNE in the drive.

Nelson, who has been riding well in the past month or so, emerged the day's top performer with two winners in NEPTUNE and the Anthony Nunes-trained EVER BLESSED (8-5), owned and bred by former West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh, who was present to see the three-year-old filly win the eighth race quite convincingly, ahead of the front-running favourite SUPER TROOPER, with Walker up.