CHARLES TOWN, West Virginia, CMC – Andre Ramgeet, son of well-known, Jamaica-born jockey Andrew Ramgeet, had one of his best days in the saddle for the year with a double on the eight-race card on Saturday at the Charles Town racetrack in the United States.
The 32-year-old, Florida-born reinsman now has 22 wins from 219 rides, and he is one of three riders with that number for the season, which opened on January 4. He is essentially 12th in the jockeys’ standings, headed by Arnaldo Bocachica, with 105 wins.
Ramgeet opened his account with a 2-3/4 lengths win on the 2-1 favorite Voice of Now in the U.S. $18 500 maidens claiming his third race over 1 300 meters on the dirt track.
He rated the pace on Voice of Now from the inside before coming under pressure approaching the quarter pole. Still, he raced the four-year-old chestnut gelding off the rail on the far turn, and though the animal drifted in the upper stretch, Ramgeet could keep his mount focussed with steady handling to reach the wire in one minute, 21.11 seconds.
Ramgeet then had to dig deep to deliver a victory by a neck on the 3-1 chance Jefferson Native in the U.S. $30 500 allowance fifth race over 900 meters on the dirt track.
He got Jefferson Native to set a pressured pace. Still, the four-year-old chestnut gelding was forced to contest on even terms on the turn with rival Entry Time, under Marshall Mendez, before digging in determinedly to eke out the nod in a time of 51.85 secs, a little short of the track record.
and then 