Simpson lands three, Harding two at Caymanas

Defending champion Trevor Simpson went off like a bomb scoring a hat-trick, winning the third, four and fifth races.

Starting the day trailing by three winners 94-91, this meant that Simpson levelled the scores.

But Trinidadian Brian Harding would have none of it and won both the seventh and eighth races to regain his lead by a reduced two-win margin.

Simpson’s first came astride My Pleasure who beat his field by 1 1/4 lengths in the 1100 metre Restricted Stakes for imported three-year-olds.

He than landed La Rude a comfortable 4 1/2 length winner of a three-year-old claimer over 1000 metres.

And the Jamaican followed this up with victory in the very next race astride Tutor in another claimer over a similar trip .

After finishing second astride La Presidenta in the day’s opener, Harding had to wait until the seventh race for his first winner.

He had to drive Ching Sing to the post winner of the three-year-old maiden race over 1500 metres, only just getting home ahead of Royal Kingdom with Simpson in the irons. The margin was a nose.

But in the eighth he steered Princess Sonia to a comfortable 2 3/4 length victory in the 1600 metres claimer for five-year-olds and up.

Harding was 4 1/2 lengths second aboard Don’t Stay Naked in the ninth in which rival Simpson was third astride Keeler half length back.

Apart from his three victories Simpson was also aboard Tigerinthewoods in the sixth race of the day’s ten-race card.