Dane Nelson to dominate Sunrise-Six

Former champion jockey Dane Nelson, back in the island from his North American base, is set to dominate the Sunrise-Six at Caymanas Park tomorrow.

Nelson has three highly fancied rides in the fourth, fifth and sixth races and should complete the treble.

In the fourth, ROYAL GIRL is back to her happy hunting ground and over one of her favourite distances. She will take on 13 opponents in a 1,100, metre-race for $180,000 claimers. The field includes recent winners MILAGRO, to be ridden by crack apprentice Tevin Foster, and REIGN OVER ALL with leading rider Anthony Thomas aboard.

MILAGRO won, with ROYAL GIRL well back, on September 29. The four-year-old then ran very well for third at the higher level ($250,000) on October 15, losing by a length to Pizarro. Both those races were over 1,000 metres round, however. ROYAL GIRL prefers tomorrow's longer distance and will be seen at her best with the powerful Nelson to guide her home.

In the fifth, Nelson will ride the well-bred two-year-old colt PHENOM (Soul Warrior - Supa Lei). He is a half-brother to speedster Simply The Best and the outstanding Franfield, a former top-graded stakes horse who was disqualified after passing the post first in the 2016 Superstakes. Trained by Steven Todd, PHENOM has been training very well for his first run, galloping 46.4x1:02.0 out of the gates on October 20. EL GRINGO and BOLD AFLAIR are also training well for the 1100 metres event, but PHENOM is definitely the one to beat.

MAJOR FORCE takes a slight drop in claiming level to face 10 rivals over 1600 metres in Race Six, and he can complete a hat-trick of wins for Nelson. Last time he faced this claiming level ($350,000), MAJOR FORCE (running on) was beaten by just under a length by Halogram Shadow on January 31. Competing over the distance in $450,000 claiming 12 days ago, MAJOR FORCE was well-beaten. He finished 13 lengths behind winner Ballon D'Or and five adrift of runner-up Stir It Up but still clocked a creditable final time of 1:42.3. A similar effort will be good enough to defeat this field.

The opening race (800 metres straight) for the Sunrise-Six is a very open affair. My selection is STORMONTHESEA, who was running on over 600 metres and will be suited by the extra 200 metres. Trainer Todd's SWEET DESTINY is preferred in Race Two, while PAKMAN is too light to oppose in the third.

Sunrise-Six Selections

1. STORMONTHESEA

2. SWEET DESTINY

3. PAKMAN

4. ROYAL GIRL

5. PHENOM

6. MAJOR FORCE