‘Ambassador’ Ramsammy scores double

TORONTO: Trinidad and Tobago’s Emile Ramsammy and Barbados’ Jono Jones completed doubles as Caribbean riders accounted for five wins on the 11-race Woodbine horseracing programme on Sunday.

Ramsammy, who will act as racing’s ambassador for TT on the course on September 29, when  it will honour the twin island state with the staging of the raceday dubbed  “A Taste of Trinidad and Tobago”,  landed the first and second races to maintain third place behind Canadian leader Todd Kabel and second-placed Barbadian Patrick Husbands in the jockeys’ championship with two weeks left in the season.

Jones posted winners in the penultimate and final races of the day, while Kabel and Husbands scored one win apiece to keep their battle for the jockeys’ title very tight at the top. In the second race, Ramsammy gained a clear lead into the first turn from off the rain and held on to the finish aboard 8-5 chance Sweetgum for a length’s win in a time of one minute, 47.52 seconds. Next race, Ramsammy set a pressured pace from off the rail on even-money favourite Mamba King. He drew his mount clear on the turn and lasted for a 1-length victory with a time of 1 min, 24.83 secs.

Jones, whose form in recent weeks has been impressive, gained a clear lead early on 3-1 chance Merlin’s Moon. He set a pressured pace inside of High Wire Glory and duelled with that one on the second turn and in the stretch before edging away late for win by a head in a time of 1 min, 51.82 secs. In the next race, Jones raced 5-2 favourite Mikey Likes It five wide, advanced on the turn and gained the lead at the 5/16 pole and prevailed for a win by a nose with a time of 1 min, 13.30 secs. Husbands won on 3-1 chance Rich Assertion in the ninth race and Kabel took the CAN $106,000 Sunny’s Halo Stakes aboard 3-2 chance Night Sky.  Kabel leads the Championship with 145 wins, five more than Husbands, with Ramsammy third on 111. Jones is in sixth position with 84 wins.