Watch Birdie Point in ARC feature

BARBADIAN invader Birdie Point gave connections a glimmer of hope of wresting tomorrow’s top prize in the Stakes And Lower Handicap by breezing through the straight with a great deal of authority. The son of Bon Point which was in contention throughout the Sagicor Indepen-dence Cup before being impeded when Miss Lover Lover made her move, gave a lively performance over the last 400 metres of the course in a bright 22.25 seconds at Santa Rosa Park, Arima, yesterday. The Norma Greenidge-owned four-year-old has adapted nicely to the sand track since his arrival last month, and from what has been seen of him yesterday,  is expected to give a good account of himself in the  1725 metres race on the turf course. Foxcote, another of the Bajan representatives in the Arima Race Club Day 27 spotlight event, has not taken to his work and the new surroundings.

He gave much trouble going into last month’s “Cup” race, and whenever asked to go past the point where another horse died recently, he behaved very unruly. But Foxcote seemed to have gotten over his fright when working in hand over the 600 metres trip in 40.25 seconds. Ghost Meadow was another to show some spark on the course yesterday morning. The Rohit Dube-trained grey started his run from the 600 metres marker and had to adjust slightly to go around a trio of juveniles at the top turn but regained his momentum up the straight to post a time of 35.53 seconds. Royal Miss also caught the eye in his spin over 800 metres. The Stephen Jardim-trained filly went into top gear after the first 200 metres and responded nicely to the urging of her rider up the stretch. Other pleasant runs over the past two days came from Smooth Operator and The Chairman, and Lovetillidie over 400 metres, Aishwarya and Carefree, Senor Gucci and Blue Reign, Life In The Sky and Royal Dame out of the boxes, and Philadelphian and Mister Hypocrit over the final 600 metres of the course.

Following are the gallops recorded:
400 METRES: Birdie Point - 22.25, good; The Chairman and Smooth Operator - 23.85 good; Perfect Gem - 23.74, good; Aishwarya and Carefree - 23.59, good (Boxes); Comanchero - 28.78, pacing; Speed - 29.09, pacing; Kylie Wylie and Ex Isle Be Gone - 27.72, pacing; Musica Dulce and Otra Avenida - 29.58, pacing; Redoubled - 29.93, pacing; It’s Showtime - 29.00, pacing; Mistic River and Attraction - 29.78, pacing; Sunday Jewel - 27.70, pacing.

600 METRES: Ghost Meadow - 35.53, good; Flying Eagle - 36.65, good; Tricky Guy and Bandinthong - 37.36, good; Foxcote - 40.23, handily; Rocket Booster - 37.59, handily; Blondie - 38.45, handily; Fran’s Choice - 44.96, pacing; Picture Perfect - 44.51, pacing; Private Affair - 44.68, pacing; Really Quiet, Ex Fairie Dove and Ex Charlotte Box - 42.68, pacing;

800 METRES: Royal Miss - 50.55, good; Isle Be True - 50.47, good; 2Sharp - 53.09, handily; Le Fabuleux dansur - 55.27, handily; Silver Bullet - 59.90, pacing; Attrianess - 57.40, pacing; Tactical Bid - 51.66, handily; Mossy Creek - 53.07, handily; Ex Dinner Silence - 59.35, pacing.

1000 METRES: Dauntless Hero - 1: 05.05, handily; Top Of The Class - 1:07.16, handily; Porto Cevero - 1:14.98, pacing; Fast Company - 1:12.77, pacing; Alert The Ship - 1:14.99, pacing; French Academy - 1:14.98, pacing; Yashoda - 1:14.91, pacing; Millenium Reign - 1:14.12, pacing; Kalyan - 1:10.19, pacing.

1200 METRES: Movietowne Magic - 1:26.16, pacing.

WEDNESDAY: 400 METRES: Lovetillidie - 23.81, good; Birdie Point - 25.17, easy; New Star - 26.06, handily; Running Trick - 25.78, handily; Ice Follies - 25.33, handily; Sure Honey - 29.97, pacing; Speed - 29.93, pacing; Top Of The Class - 29.90, pacing; Flying Eagle - 29.27, pacing; Poetry - 29.93, pacing; Yashoda - 29.90, pacing; Danzc With Class - 28.88, pacing; Miss Lover Lover - 28.99, pacing

600 METRES: Royal Dame - 35.57, good (Boxes); Senor Gucci - 36.06, good (Boxes); Life In The Sky - 35.00, good (Boxes); Aishwarya - 36.67, good (Boxes); Blue Reign - 37.05, good (Boxes); Ex Sparkling Hero and Saucy Wow - 37.78, handily (Boxes); Philadelphian - 37.65, good; Mister Hypocrit - 37.64, good; Sunday Jewel - 37.45, good; Bajan Connection - 36.84, good; Bandinthong - 40.80, handily; Sweet N’beautiful - 39.67, handily; Preffered Share - 38.98, handily; Kato - 43.17, pacing; 2Sharp - 43.09, pacing; Fortunate Flag - 41.89, pacing; Champagne Wager - 44.50, pacing; Arts And Lovers and Smooth Operator - 42.27, pacing; Ex Charlotte Box - 44.92, pacing; Blondie - 41.88, pacing; Joint Account - 44.42, pacing.

800 METRES: The Chairman - 54.10, handily; Hyarima - 54.07, handily; Phenomenon - 54.83, handily; Isle Be True - 59.93, pacing; Sure Park - 59.98, pacing; Explosive Suzie - 59.99, pacing.

1000 METRES: Soul Asylum - 1:02.55, good; Invincibility - 1:03.48, pushed out; Paula’s First - 1:08.91, handily; Politics - 1:09.67, handily; Lion Country - 1:06.93, handily; Full Of Promises - 1:05.41, handily; Samana Song - 1:08.68, handily; Mucho Tempo - 1:14.96, pacing.

1200 METRES: Tricky Guy - 1:24.43, pacing.

1800 METRES: Tactical Bid - 2:09.61, pacing.