Coneyislandinvader steals home in Supreme Ventures 2-y-o Stakes

Ainsley Walters, Gleaner Writer

A TRAINER with a 15-month-old licence and a jockey who was twice turned down by the Jamaica Racing Commission yesterday combined to post a massive 47-1 upset with CONEYISLANDINVADER in the $4.25 million Supreme Ventures Limited Jamaica Two-Year-Old Stakes at Caymanas Park.

Trained by Edward Walker and partnered by Canada-based Jamaican jockey Tyrone Nelson, CONEYISLANDINVADER stalked and outbattled 8-1 chance SMOKIN MAN in the stretch run before staying on strongly to beat the late-closing pair of ERASMO and 8-5 favourite UNCLE KEN by a length and a quarter in the season's biggest two-year-old race.

A whopping win dividend of $1,948 for a $40 ticket in the one-mile race told the tale of the underdog combination - a new trainer, a rider rejected in his bid to gain an apprentice licence locally, and a horse who had won his first race nine days earlier.

Gary Subratie's UNCLE KEN was all the rage as the 8-5 favourite after beating FATTY BUM BUM in the November 27 Pick-3 Super Challenge Trophy at 1400 metres.

However, neither the script nor the pace went according to the favourite's plan as SMOKIN MAN and CONEYISLANDINVADER left the gate like scared hares, with TRADITIONAL PRINCE chasing the duo down the backstretch and into the lane.

The pace took a toll on SMOKIN MAN, leaving the furlong pole as he battled to stave off CONEYISLANDINVADER and TRADITIONAL PRINCE, searching for room along the rail.

CONEYISLANDINVADER got first run on SMOKIN MAN with a half-furlong to run and started stealing home under Nelson.

ERASMO and UNCLE KEN closed as a team in mid-track to go past TRADITIONAL PRINCE close home, but CONEYISLANDINVADER was not for catching and stayed on strongly to win the event in a modest 1:43.1.

However, the slow time of the event did not matter one bit to Walker, who graduated from the trainers' programme last year September and was posting his fifth career winner.

He said after CONEYISLANDINVADER won off a four-month lay-up on December 18, he was convinced the bay colt was ready for the race.

"After I raced him for the first time, he got injured and I had to put him down for four months. I gave him a prep race and he gave me a minute out of the straight and I said 'This is it'."

Nelson, he said, was "a lucky man" to have got the ride.

"After the champion jockey, Omar Walker, won with him, he had to ride another horse in the race - his stable horse. My owner said Nelson was the next-best pound-for-pound rider, and I went with that."

Licence

Nelson, on break from Assiniboia Downs in Canada, where he finished fourth in the standings with 52 winners this season, had a lot to prove locally, although he has won in excess of 200 races on the Canadian circuit.

Twice turned down in his bid to get an apprentice licence locally, Tyrone, a cousin of top jockey Dane Nelson, relocated to Canada where he started riding in 2006. He occasionally returns home in the off-season, but had only won four races locally despite shining overseas.

Yesterday, he said he knew he had it won from the gate.

"He broke on top and I took him off and saved him for the stretch. I wasn't scared of anything coming from behind," he said.

SMOKIN MAN, fourth past the post, was afterwards disqualified and placed behind TRADITIONAL PRINCE for interference in the stretch run.