Emile, Jones win big Woodbine races

TORONTO, Canada: Jono Jones and Emile Ramsammy registered stakes wins and led a sweep of six wins for Caribbean jockeys on the 10-race card at Woodbine on Saturday afternoon. Barbadian Jones won the (Can)$164,000 Carotene Stakes aboard the 3-to-2 favourite Invitational, and Ramsammy, originally from Trinidad and Tobago, steered 4-5 favourite Mister Coop to victory in the (Can)$81,000 Mt Sassafras Stakes, Ramsammy and Jones completed doubles on the programme and the Husbands brothers, Patrick and Simon, shared two wins as Caribbean jockeys enjoyed a fruitful afternoon.

The three-year-old filly Invita-tional was held behind the leaders early in the 1-1/8th mile event and responded well when Jones urged her for the winning run entering the home stretch. She sped past rivals with an outside run in the home stretch and won by two lengths, clocking one minute 49.39 seconds. “Once I straightened up, I find it’s a little better out there because we don’t run on it as much,” said Jones, of his decision to wheel Invitational four-wide into the final turn. “The race set up perfectly for her. She’s a nice horse,” added Jones, the 2000 and 2001 Barbados champion jockey. The 22-1 outsider Silver Impulse did well to place second and The Queen’s Stamp (9-1) finished third in the event that left Woodbine’s leading jockey Emma Jayne Wilson injured.

Down the home stretch, Wilson was tossed to the turf when her mount Count to Three (11-2) crashed through the inner rail in mid-stretch. Wilson, who has a colony-best 126 wins so far this year, was taken to a local area hospital with a suspected upper right leg injury. In the Mt Sassafras Stakes, Mister Coop displayed grit and style in winning under a good ride from Ramsammy after being pressed on the lead for most of the event by the 9-2 chance Quick In Deed. The two-time Woodbine champion jockey held the lead and fought off a strong late bid by Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk (2-1) with champion jockey Todd Kabel riding, to score to a one-length victory. The running time was 1:23.73.

“I didn’t want to have a big fight with (Quick in Deed). All the way down the backstretch to the three-eighths pole, I was hoping Quick in Deed would go, but I ended up making all the run. The horse did it well,” Ramsammy said. Jones scored his other win with Smoke the Bandit (3-1) in a smashing 8-3/4 length victory in the eighth race and Ramsammy won the 10th race with the 5-2 favourite Passage Fort for Barbados-based Canadian owners Melnyk Racing Stables. Passage Fort shot to the front — five wide — a furlong out but was forced to repel a strong late challenge from the 7-1 chance Dr G’s Hot Sauce under Barbadian jockey Slade Callaghan to win by three-quarters of a length.

Simon Husbands got his win with the 4-1 chance Stonington in the second race, scoring by 3-1/4 lengths over his brother Patrick aboard the Extra Bases (12-1). Patrick, a three-time Woodbine champion, confidently rode the 3-1 chance Spiritwood to a 5-3/4 length victory in the ninth race. Patrick Husbands, with 84 wins, is fourth in the championship standings behind Wilson (126), Corey Fraser (94) and James McAleney (91), while Ramsammy (59) and Jones (47) also hold top-10 spots at seventh and eighth, respectively. (CMC)