EDMONTON – Three-time defending champion Rico Walcott was one of four Barbadian jockeys dominating the seven-race card at Northlands Park on Friday.
Walcott, the runaway leader in the jockeys’ championship, joined compatriots Quincy Welch, Desmond Bryan and rookie Damario Bynoe in posting single wins at the Alberta racing oval.
It was Welch who opened the account for the Barbadian quartet, capturing race one over six and a half furlongs with favourite Meetmeat Tiffanys.
The former multiple Northlands champion pressed the pace set by 4-1 bet Unsweetened, duelled briefly before grabbing the lead approaching the half-mile run in 47.54 seconds.
Welch then kept the six-year-old mare to task to reach the wire half-length clear, under pressure from second placed Start Time with Walcott aboard.
Bryan followed up in race four, making virtually all the running with favourite Bolsano over six and a half furlongs. He and the three-year-old gelding duelled early on with Pop’s Little Man before getting clear to reach the wire by one and a half lengths.
Bynoe, who has had an impressive first overseas campaign, captured race five over 6-1/2 furlongs when he guided favourite Hollywood Drama to a handsome victory by five lengths over the three-year-olds and upward.
He was well off the pace with the four-year-old gelding through the first quarter run in 22.98 seconds by the pace-setting Daniel Be Good and LG’s Flash. However, he made quick progress coming off the back stretch, grabbed the lead coming off the last turn and had no challengers in the stretch.
With a fourth title already in sight, Walcott added another win to his account when he piloted 2-1 bet Kaitlans Song to a narrow win over the three-year-olds and upward going a mile on dirt.
Walcott raced the four-year-old brown gelding at the rear of the pack as Skippio, with Trinidadian Nela Mohammed aboard, posted the early fractions, with Bynoe’s Awesome T and Lucky Ed tracking.
Walcott, however, got Kaitlans Song to the front turning for home, narrowly holding off Lucky Ed to win by three-quarter lengths. (CMC)
