NATION NEWS

Griffith moves up at Fort Erie
Published on: 8/25/06.

FORT ERIE, Ontario – Barbadian jockey Chris Griffith has climbed to No. 8 in the Fort Erie jockeys' standings after landing two wins on Tuesday afternoon's card.

Griffith captured the second and sixth races on the ten-race programme to increase his count of winners to 23 in the 2006 season

The three-time Fort Erie champion is four wins off seventh-placed Neil Poznansky in the riders' table that also includes Roderick DaCosta as a second Caribbean rider in the Top 10.

DaCosta has 33 wins for third behind leader Robert King (64) and Cory Clark (47).

In the CAN$13 000 second race, Griffith steered Spunky Bottoms to a 4-1/2 length win as the 4-5 favourite.

Spunky Bottoms shot to the front in the six-horse field entering the final turn and moved clear to win the mile-and-sixteenth event in one minute, 48.07 seconds.

Griffith, who was Fort Erie champion in 1995, 1997 and 2001, completed his double with the seven-year-old gelding Stormy Day in the CAN$13 000 sixth race over five furlongs.

Stormy Day, a 7-1 bet, was lying seventh three furlongs out and entered the homestretch in fourth almost four lengths behind the leader.

But Griffith roused his mount for a terrific run inside the final furlong and snatched victory in the closing strides by a head, covering the sprint trip in 59.88 seconds.

Top Fort Erie Jockeys

1 Robert King 64 wins

2 Cory Clark 47

3 Roderick Dacosta 33

4 Daniel David 32

5 Chad Beckon 31

6 Francine Villeneuve 29

7 Neil Poznansky 27

8 Chris Griffith 23

9 Michael Quong 22

10 Edward Robinson 21
(CMC)