Bajans star at Northlands

Leading jockey Walcott won the Sturgeon River Stakes and Fall Classic Distaff Stakes, while Welch, the reigning champion jockey, copped the Red Diamond Express and Alberta Breeders’ Stakes events.

Walcott is on course to landing his first jockeys’ championship title in Canada and boosted his winning tally to 85 with his double success, 21 ahead of Welch (64) with only 18 race days remaining in the season.

Walcott, who very narrowly lost to Welch in the 2000 (66-67) and 2002 (83-85) Northlands Park championships, got his first win of the afternoon when he guided the hot 1-to-5 favourite Kaylee’s Magic to a three-length win in the CAN$50,000 Sturgeon River Stakes.

His victory in the CAN$75,000 Fall Classic Distaff came astride the 14-1 outsider SL Charmer, coming from behind to snatch a 3/4-length win ahead of the 5-2 second favourite Banjo Babe.

Welch, who has won five of the last six Northlands Park jockeys’ titles, gave a bustling ride to take the favourite Cool Bender (8-5) to a 1-3/4 length victory in the CAN$50,000 Red Diamond Express Stakes.

He logged his second stakes win of the afternoon with another stirring finish, fighting off the 3-5 favourite Beau Brass, to win the CAN$75,000 Alberta Breeders’ Stakes by three-quarters of a length with Fuhr One, a 7-1 outsider in the five-horse field.

Welch adeptly used the front-running five-year-old gelding to regulate the pace of the 1-1/16th mile event and had enough in reserve to repel the strong late challenges of Beau Brass and Walcott’s mount Royalty Boy (4-1), which was only a further 1-3/4 lengths away in third spot.

There was a fifth riding success for Barbados on the nine-race card when Desmond Bryan registered a good victory — coming from behind — in the fifth race aboard the 2-1 favourite Early Esteem, topping Walcott’s mount Weekend Rules by two lengths.

Top-ten Northlands Park jockeys: 1 Rickey Walcott 85 wins; 2 Quincy Welch 64; 3 Stephan Heiler 49; 4 Real Simard 39; 5 Perry Winters 33; 6 Mike Iammarino 30; 7 Ron Blinston 28; 8 Leanne Painter 23; 9 Desmond Bryan 22; 10 Shannon Beauregard 20.