Horses stand up for ‘Colt’

All 10 runners entered in the Eric “Colt” Durant Memorial Trophy Handicap on Monday have stood their ground for the 1725-metres  turf contest on the Arima Race Club Day 31 card at Santa Rosa Park, Arima on Saturday.

The staying event opened to two-year-olds and over will be the main event on the 10-race programme in memory of the legendary trainer who died on October 7, 2001. The card was well patronised with 91 runners, with the smallest field carrying seven and the largest 12. And as though to highlight some of the achievements of  “The Maestro From Marabella”, the ARC have framed the entire card in the name of runners he was successful with in the 57 years of involvement in the sport. The opening event is framed in the name of Nylon, the first winner Durant cared for as a groom when he arrived in 1945.

Nylon, who was owned by Lionel Gittens and trained by Joe Herrera, romped home with the Derby Stakes at the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port-of-Spain. The other races will carry some of the illustrious horses to have felt his magic touch. They include, Fruition which was his last winner; Conquest, “Horse Of The Year” in 1985; Annapurna,  his first winner as a trainer 1959; Renegade, the 1993 Derby winner and the last at the Queen’s Park Savannah. The curtains will be drawn soon after the Memorial Trophy with a West Indian bred three-year-old handicap named after Decorum, his first Derby winner 1994.