Ramsammy captures Bold Ruckus Stakes

TORONTO: Top Trini-dadian jockey Emile Ramsammy captured his third stakes win of the 2003 Canadian horse racing season Wednesday when he landed the Bold Ruckus Stakes astride the third favourite Tusayan for Jamaican trainer Laurie Silvera. Making his turf debut, Tusayan (6-1) produced a strong finish and sprinted clear in deep stretch for a 2-3/4 length win in the CAN$139,000 event. “It’s nice winning here today, his first time on the turf,” said Ramsammy, a two-time Canadian champion jockey. The 10-1 chance Penthouse Prince, with Barbadian Simon Husbands riding, and Dressed For Action (9-1), battled on the front-end early, leading the field through an opening quarter-mile in 23.26 seconds. Ramsammy kept Tusayan within reach of the pacesetting duo, comfortably held in third. As the field charged towards the finish line, Tusayan accelerated away from his rivals and covered the six-furlong sprint in one minute 12.02 seconds.

“We’ve been angling towards this race from the very beginning of this  year,” said Silvera, who co-owns Tusayan, along with Srinivas Kilambi. Ramsammy, who won the 1996 and 1997 Sovereign Award as Canada’s most outstanding jockey, also won the sixth race aboard Sharide (4-1), topping Todd Kabel’s mount Caledon Bound by two lengths. Kabel had three winners on the card and took sole leadership in the riders’ standings with 38 wins, three ahead of Barbadian Patrick Husbands (35), with Ramsammy third on 31.

Woodbine jockeys’ standings
1.Todd Kabel                                  38 wins
2.Patrick Husbands                          35
3.Emile Ramsammy                           31
4.James McAleney                           23
5.Steven Bahen                              21
6.Constant Montpellier                     20
7.Chantal Sutherland                       17
8.Robert Landry                              15
8.Dino Luciani                                 15
10.David Clark                                14
10.Richard Dos Ramos                      14
12.James McKnight                          12
12.Simon Husbands                         12