Harding wins two, fails in Governor’s Cup

The colt Miracle Man, running as the hot 1-2 favourite under leading all-time jockey Winston Griffiths, registered a solid four-length victory in the J$2 million (US$32,507) Governors’ Cup event over 2000 metres for veteran trainer Allan Williams and owner Joseph Duany.

Harding’s mount Ad Infinitum, from the Nunes barn, and owned by Haloute, placed second at odds of 15-1, and Royal Command, the second favourite at 4-1, finished third.

From the gates, Griffiths held Miracle Man in a prominent position stalking the leaders for the first half of the race, before tackling the front-running Victoria (5-1) nearing the first turn at the half-mile.

Miracle Man cruised past Victoria entering the home stretch and sprinted away in the 12-horse field for a win in two minutes 07 and 1/5th of a second, emerging now as a very strong contender for the June 4 Red Stripe Jamaica Derby.

Harding, a seven-time Trinidad and Tobago champion jockey, jumped into second spot in the jockeys’ standings with wins astride Pittacus in the eighth race and La Reina in 11th race for Haloute and Nunes.

The double moved Harding up to 23 wins in the championship race, 10 behind leader and reigning champion Trevor Simpson (33), with Paul Francis (22) lying third and Charles Hussey (21).

Harding drove the five-year-old gelding Pittacus into a dead-heat finish with Chosen One in the eighth race and closed the 11-race programme with a six-length victory in the last race aboard La Reina.

Current jockeys; standings: 1. Trevor Simpson 33 wins; 2. Brian Harding 23; 3. Paul Francis 22; 4. Charles Hussey 21; 5. Dalton Brown 16; 6. Winston Griffiths, Andron Findley 14; 8. Patrick Henry 11; 9. Allen Maragh, Clive Lynch 9.