O’Brien saddles five in arc Turf Classic

CELEBRATION TIME and Undisputed, who are down to oppose Top Of The Class in the Caribbean Champion Stakes next Saturday have shown interest in the Arima Race Club Turf Classic.

The two top three-year-olds were among a list of 15 runners for which second subscriptions of $300 were paid for the 1725 metres on December 13. The staying event has attracted two foreign entrants in Royal Red, who arrived from Barbados in September to contest the Royal Oak Derby and is one of five intended runners from champion trainer John O’Brien’s barn. Subscriptions for the other entrant, Cat Attack, was  not paid at the  initial stage, so a  penalty of $1,400 was made for this colt to be eligible for the race. The penalty payment for Cat Attack increased the stakes which began at  $6,000 to $11,600.

O’ Brien’s other runners in the event are Royal Oak Derby runner-up Bound To Dot Com, Fresh Mandate and Isle Be There. Trainer Grant Lourenco will be represented by Undisputed, while current leader among the trainers Glenn Mendez has two runners in this year’s renewal — Hollywood Star and You’ve Got Mail. Harold Chadee has entered Full Of Promises, Andrew Dulal-Whiteway has  Golden Honour, Stephen Jardim fields Naturelly Classy, Douglas Bennett sends out Super Grey, Rohit Dube saddles Van Nistelrooy and Harriram Gobin has Sweet Tempo left in. Final subscriptions for  the event are due on December 1.

Following are the runners for the West Indian bred three-year-old classic: BOUND TO DOT COM, CAT ATTACK (P) (BAR), CELEBRATION TIME, FRESH MANDATE, FULL OF PROMISES, GOLDEN HONOUR, HOLLYWOOD STAR, ISLE BE THERE, NATURELL CLASSY, REYAL RED (BAR), SUPER GREY, SWEET TEMPO, UNDISPUTED, VAN NISTELROOY.