ETOBICOKE, Ontario, CMC – Barbadian jockeys, including ace Patrick Husbands and the highly-decorated Rico Walcott, combined for four wins on Thursday at the Woodbine racetrack in Canada.
Husbands logged his 34th win for the season, and he is fourth in the jockeys standings, while Walcott, who transferred from the west coast to Canada’s main racing facility on the east coast, landed his 13th win for the season.
Fellow Barbadians Christopher Husbands, the reigning champion jockey at the nearby Fort Erie racetrack, and Keveh Nicholls also made it into winner’s row on the nine-race card.
Walcott was the first to claim victory when he drove 7-2 bet Machina to a 1-1/4 lengths win in the CAN $40 200, claiming his second race over seven furlongs on the all-weather track.
Machina traveled in the middle of the field down the backside and was coaxed at the three-furlong pole before the three-year-old bay filly started to reel in the leaders, became a threat at the top of the lane, collared the front-runner with 100 meters remaining, and edged away near the wire for a time of one minute, 24.67 seconds.
Husbands followed him with a 1-1/2 lengths win astride the 2-1 favorite Boston Tea Party in the CAN $111 000 allowance optional, claiming the fifth race over six furlongs on the turf course.
Boston Tea Party moved quickly to the front and set the pace throughout the race before Husbands kept the four-year-old bay gelding (by Pharoah out of Pirate’s Trove by Speightstown) busy through the lane and held him safe to clock 1 min, 09.11 secs.
The unrelated Husbands got his third win of the season when he guided the 13-1 long-shot Jilli Marie to a narrow victory in the CAN $41 000 starter optional claiming the seventh race over 1 300 meters on the turf.
Jilli Marie traveled in the middle of the field down the backside and Husbands made his move through the turn, and the five-year-old bay mare bid for the lead in the upper stretch before taking command with 70 meters left and inched to a win by a neck in 1:16.34.
Nicholls brought the curtain down on the day’s activities with a 2-3/4 lengths win on the 9-1 chance Cliff’s Head in the CAN $32 000, claiming the ninth and final race over 1 500 meters on the inner turf course.
Cliff’s Head was settled comfortably on the fence in the middle of the field at the half, and Nicholls rallied the five-year-old brown mare on the inside on the far turn, gaining on the leaders before angling his mount three comprehensively and accelerated to draw away for a time of 1:33.20 and his seventh win for the season.
and then 