Whitehall, Husbands, Walcott storm to victories

EDMONTON, Alberta – Antonio Whitehall outshone his more illustrious Barbadian counterpart Rico Walcott when he rode a triple on yesterday’s 10-race card at Century Mile.

The leading rider 700 miles further west at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg, the 27-year-old stole the spotlight by capturing race two with 7-1 choice Carramiamine, race three with favourite Lil Ol Flatter and the day’s final race with 6-4 bet Lucky Last Night.

Not to be left out, however, championship leader Walcott stormed to victories in race five over five furlongs with favourite Gone Long Gone before following up with success aboard another favourite Dense Fog in race seven over seven furlongs.

He tops the standings with 43 wins from 125 rides, 19 clear of Rigo Sarmiento, with Whitehall third on 21 wins from 111 wins.

Whitehall has competed strongly on two fronts this season and currently leads the standings at Assiniboia Downs with 67 wins, a whopping 27 clear of the next rider.

He opened his account on Sunday in a 5-½ furlong sprint with the four-year-old roan filly Carramiamine, duelling with favourite Wings of Change before snatching the lead at the quarter pole and dominating the stretch run to win by 5-¼ lengths.

Whitehall then doubled his tally in a six-furlong sprint next up, pairing with three-year-old chestnut filly Lil Ol Flatter to get the better of the three-year-old and upward maiden fillies and mares by 1-½ lengths.

Whitehall saved ground as Walcott led through the half-mile with No Collusion before rousing the filly near the quarter pole and getting clear in the stretch.

No Collusion, in at even odds, faded badly to finish last.

Whitehall failed to impress in his next three rides and was forced to wait until race 10 before finding the winners’ enclosure with three-year-old gelding Lucky Last Night, beating the three-year-old and upward maidens by 1-¾ lengths.

Going seven furlongs, Whitehall stalked as Arctic Reign and Legs Are Diamond duelled but produced a determined drive with the gelding in the stretch to reel in the leaders.

Meanwhile in Toronto yesterday, veteran Patrick Husbands made all the running aboard 9-5 favourite Marjorie’s Dream to hand fellow Barbadian Randy Thompson his first stakes win as a trainer at Woodbine.

Going seven furlongs in the CAN$138 000 Algoma Stakes in race 10, Husbands put the chestnut fully in command from early but was forced to repel a late challenge from Silent Causeway before getting to the wire in a photo finish, in a time of one minute, 23.26 seconds.

Thompson, who co-owns Marjorie’s Dream along with John McMullan, said the victory had been an emotional moment.

“She was named after Aunt Marjorie and she was always a fighter. She’s up in heaven today and she’s looking down on us,” said Thompson, who emigrated from Barbados 20 years ago.

“It’s amazing, it feels really good. I want to thank my good friend Peter Brown for finding me in Barbados and getting me a job in Canada 20 years ago. He let me work for Mr. Tino Attard and Kevin Attard – I really appreciate those guys.

“And most of all, my mom, she allowed me to come. As you see, my colours are well representative of my mom’s food business,” he said in reference to the maroon and silver silks adorned with a symbol of a knife and fork.

Husbands broke Marjorie’s Dreams from post position number two and eased her through the quarter mile in 22.59 seconds and the half in 45.33 seconds to be two lengths clear, with Bambarra Bay and Silent Causeway in pursuit and Under the Eye also challenging.

At the top of the stretch, Marjorie’s Dream had only Silent Causeway left as a serious challenger but seemed to have shook off the threat mid-stretch.

But Silent Causeway came again and this time Husbands was forced to pull everything out of the filly in order to get the win.

“I’ve got to say to Randy and the owners, coming into the game for the first time and winning a stakes through the sales (Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society’s sales) is a compliment to horse racing,” Husbands said.

“I was happy. The track wasn’t really playing speed. I tried to see if I could get her to relax because she’s a speed horse. I finally got her to relax and she got the job done.”

The victory was the second in four starts for the filly following a front-running win in a 5-½ furlong sprint under Husbands earlier this month.

For Husbands, the win was one of two on Sunday’s 11-race programme, as he also captured race four with four-year-old roan gelding Yzerman, beating the three-year-old and upward maidens by a head in 6-½ furlong sprint.

Husbands has 35 wins from 208 rides in the six-month Woodbine season which wraps December 13.