The combination of owner Joanne Parravicino, trainer Roger Parravicino, three-year-old filly Seattle Sunshine and jockey Ricky Walcott extended their winning streak to four consecutive victories with a three-quarter length win in the feature race yesterday at the Garrison Savannah.
The daughter of Hook and Ladder out of Savasana, having only recently defeated horses rated 72-95, stepped up her performance another notch by defeating five rivals in the Crop Over Festival Handicap, for three years and older horses rated 117-140 and also open to horses rated 116 and below, over 1 100 metres.
Unlike her previous win when she stalked the pace, jockey Walcott took the filly into the lead from the start and despite being challenged by Run Alke Run, she remained focused on the task.
On approaching the two-furlong marker with her challenger clearly under severe pressure to get by, Walcott remained patient on his charge. Entering the home stretch, he asked Seattle Sunshine for a final effort and she had enough to turn back a fast finishing A.P. Vincero under jockey Anderson Trotman.
Vitality, ridden by leading apprentice Damario Bynoe, never got into the race until the home stretch run when he stayed the course to take third.
Run Alke Run, under the overcast skies with intermittent showers that prevailed throughout the day, once again found the class and pace of his juvenile Seattle Sunshine too much to contend with and was forced to settle for fourth position under jockey Jonathon Grant.
The win by Seattle Sunshine brings her into the limelight as one of the best sprinters in the country, positioning her behind the class act Shared Adventure. This moves her career record to five wins and one second from eight starts. With continued improvement in the forecast, racing enthusiasts should keenly follow the progress on this newborn start.
Meanwhile, jockey Walcott maintained his winning percentage strike rate of 31 as he also piloted home the Victor Cheeseman owned and trained Vandross in the Pic-O-De-Crop Handicap, for three-years and older horses rated 55-75 and also open to horses rated 54 and below, over 1 800 metres. It was the eight-year-old’s 10th career victory.
Like jockey Walcott, namesake trainer Edward Walcott Jr held the spotlight among his peers on the day, saddling two winners in Regal Juan and Snow White. The latter, under apprentice Dario Dalrymple, scored her third career success in the Cohobblopot Handicap, for West Indian bred three-year-olds rated 40-60 and also open to horses rated 39 and below, er 1 570 metres.
It could prove to be a very important win for this Gay Smith-owned daughter of Super Jeblar out of So Dear with the Derby pending on the upcoming race day.
The eight points earned for the win could very well see her connections opting to have this filly represent the stable at the last moment in this most prestigious race.
United Insurance Derby Day is Thursday, August 1.
