Technomoto upsets at 32-1

Orville Clarke, Sunday Gleaner Writer

TECHNOMOTO, running at odds of 32-1 with last year's winning jockey Dick Cardenas aboard, turned the 91st running of the Cal's Jamaica Derby over 2400 metres into a procession at Caymanas Park yesterday.

Trained by Anthony 'Baba' Nunes for co-owners Elias Haloute and Stephan Narinesingh, the three-year-old bay colt by Western Classic out of the Law Of The Sea mare Sea Treaty, won by all of 10 1/2 lengths from 15-1 chance JET SETTER with leading jockey Shane Ellis riding for champion trainer Wayne DaCosta.

JET SETTER, who was outpaced for most of the way, got up in the nick of time to pip the 3-2 favourite BIG MAN BOYU, winner of the April 2 2000 Guineas, by a neck in a maximum field of 16 native-bred three-year-olds, with the recent Lotto Classic winner ERASMO (2-1) placing fourth under champion jockey Omar Walker.

Oddly enough, it wasn't much of a race insofar as competition was concerned in this particular Derby. TECHNOMOTO raced prominently passing the stands for the first time as HERMOSO AMIGO (5-1) made the early running under Andre Martin. But he was not allowed to go too far as Cardenas made a sweeping move to grab the lead leaving the 1400-metre (seven-furlong) pole.

He quickly opened up a commanding lead to be 15 lengths clear leaving the half mile and, after turning for home a dozen lengths clear, it was all over bar the shouting. Kept up to his work by Cardenas, TECHNOMOTO stayed on very strongly to win by the proverbial city block to be ranked among horses such as ROYAL CREST (1970) and DISTINCTLY IRISH (2004) as the easiest Derby winners in over 50 years of racing at Caymanas Park.

sheer ecstasy

For the connections of the TECHNOMOTO, it was sheer ecstasy. Barbados-based Haloute, who had previously won the Derby with the Nunes-trained TERREMOTO in 1998, was simply over the moon, waving frantically to the large crowd as he strolled inside the winners' enclosure to meet his charge, accompanied by Narinesingh, 'Baba' Nunes and the winning groom, Hercules Forrest.

"I've never seen a more impressive Derby winner anywhere," declared Haloute. "This was in fact my second Derby winner but this one provided an even bigger thrill than the first, because few people gave him a chance.

"Back then, it was TERREMOTO ... now it's TECHNOMOTO," he jokingly remarked.

Title-chasing stable jockey Cardenas said he couldn't believe he was so far in front at the final bend. "I knew then that it wasn't much of a race" said the quiet Panamanian, who won the race with Triple-Crown winner MARK MY WORD a year ago.

Nunes chipped in: "The plan was to get the lead early and steal a march. TECHNOMOTO doesn't like other horses around him. He just loves to roll along..."

Bred by Ruth Hussey, TECHNOMOTO, who was unraced as a two-year-old, has now won three races from seven career starts with total stakes of $5.8 million.

On a day when TECHNOMOTO was one of four notable upsets, the talented American 3-year-old colt MISMYRTLEBOYRICHIE (1-4 favourite) duly made it nine wins in a row with a narrow victory over DANCE SO SWEET in the $1.3-million Real Vibes Party Wine Sprint over 1300 metres, with Walker again riding for trainer Tony Kirlew.