Nuclear Power upsets field at Santa Rosa

THISONESFORRON was denied a hat-trick of victories yesterday in the prestigious Gold Cup, sponsored by the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB), at the Santa Rosa Park, Arima.

In the feature attraction of the 10-race card, at the NLCB Boxing Day Races, the 2017 Horse of the Year was unable to deal with the force of Nuclear Power, who caused an upset as earned a narrow victory.

The three-year-old filly, owned by Shivam Maharaj, trained by Harriram Gobin and ridden by Wilmer Galviz, secured the $132,000 jackpot in the process.

In lovely conditions at Arima, Valorous, with Ricardo Jadoo aboard, led the field from the start, in the 2,000-metre race, but Stockyard, ridden by Yosenyer Serrano, took over the lead, with seven furlongs remaining.

Both Valorous and Stockyard swapped positions, but Stockyard started to tire slightly, and the pair of Nuclear Power and Whisper Light, ridden by Dillon Khelawan, moved to the front to join Valorous.

Thisonesforron, the pre-race favourite at odds of 1/1, produced a late burst of speed to keep pace with the front four, but the Kerron Khelawan-ridden seven-year-old had too much work to do to achieve the milestone of Gold Cup treble victories.

The focus was on the trio of Nuclear Power, Valorous and Whisper Light, who were neck-and-neck entering the final 100 metres.

In the end, Nuclear Power, on the inside, crossed the line in two minutes 8.56 seconds, with Valorous and Whisper Light close behind. Stockyard placed fourth, followed by Thisonesforron, Magical Victory and Leading Lady. Another top contender, Princess Suri, did not finish.

In the NLCB St James Stakes, Early Bird lived up to his name with the advantage from the off, but he was chased down by Regal Intension (another horse ridden by Galviz). With one furlong left, Regal Intension overtook Early Bird and prevailed in one minute 23.78 seconds. Early Bird was next, with Making Headlines, Blue Navigator and Marengo trailing.

And, in the NLCB St Ann’s Stakes, it was a virtual no-contest as Shes So Spectacular, with Carlos Montalvo aboard, moved ahead of Dakota, with five furlongs remaining, to claim a comfortable victory, by 10-and-three-quarter lengths.

Overall, among the jockeys, Galviz rode three winners while Naim Samaroo had two. In the trainers’ section, Chadee had three winners, followed by Gobin with two.

For 2018, Ricardo “Ricky” Jadoo emerged as the champion jockey with 34 wins while Glenn Mendez finished as the most successful trainer with 47 wins.