After saddling favourites for the last three Derbies and having endured the agony of watching last year’s Triple Crown hopeful Nekitta failing to secure a place, trainer Victor Cheeseman has finally done it.
Before a large crowd yesterday at the Garrison Savannah, Voldemort, owned by Bills Incorporated and under the urgings of jockey Rickey Walcott, etched their names in the Barbados Turf Club’s history books by winning the Massy United Insurance Barbados Derby, a Grade I race over 2 000 metres.
However, the connections of the first and second placed horses, Voldemort and Super Lady, who was ridden by Antonio Bishop, were made to sweat it out as objections were lodged against them.
After a brief delay, the results were unchanged, marking a stellar achievement on Cheeseman’s career.
His success was heartache for the connections of Triple Crown hopeful John D. Chandler and his colt Noble Intent, who suffered the same fate as last year’s raging hot favourite.
No sooner had the pomp and pageantry put on by sponsors Massy United Insurance Company Limited ended when the starting gate opened and Joshua immediately raced for the lead with Noble Intent tracking on the inside, followed closely by John Vere, Super Lady, Lavani and Ninepoint Six-Nine.
Going down the back stretch while the leading bunch were still jostling for positions, it was very noticeable that eventual winner Voldemort, who was a major disappointment in the Midsummer Creole Classic, was nicely settled towards the rear of the field on the soft track condition that prevailed.
With the mile completed in one minute, 45 1/5 seconds, the running order began to change rapidly, at which point Lavani picked up the running to move four lengths clear. By that stage the efforts of early frontrunners Joshua and Noble Intent came to an abrupt halt on the seventh day of the Barbados Turf Club second racing season.
This left the likes of Super Lady, Ninepoint Six-Nine, Voldemort and to a lesser extent Jasmine and Corvette all on the chase vying for top honours.
Super Lady, a rank outsider in the field, turned for home and levelled with Voldemort, who was travelling best of all.
What initially looked to be a scintillating finish never materialized as Voldemort effortlessly strode away from the field, in spite of going extremely wide, to take the silver cup and top prize in the third leg of the Triple Crown for West Indian-bred three-year-olds.
Ninepoint Six-Nine, partnered by Panamanian-born Nobel Abrego, sustained his momentum throughout and was rewarded with a third-place finish, while another long shot, Kamazetta, stormed down the inside of the track to secure a hard-earned fourth position.
The afternoon’s supporting feature, the eighth edition of the T. A. Tommy Peirce Memorial Trophy Condition Race over 1 570 metres for three-year-old and older horses rated 140-122 and also open to horses rated 121 and below, provided jockey Anderson Trotman with the Bubba’s “Sunday Buffet Breakfast” Ride Of The Day as he piloted home the Sir David Seale-owned Daunting David to a patient victory.
