Three-way battle for jockey title

The race for championship honours among the jockeys appears to be a wide open after the completion of the Arima Race Club 10-race card at Santa Rosa Park on Independence Day.

With 11 days  remaining before the closure of the season, the fight is shaping into a three-way battle, with the likelihood that champion Rajpaul Rajkumar will be dethroned and a new champion will be crowned. The fight which was thought to be between Ricardo Jadoo and Wilmer Galviz two racedays ago has changed dramatically during the same period with past champion Brian Harding posting six winners to  mount a strong challenge. Wilmer Galviz, who returned Monday after serving a one-day ban for a whip-passing incident, failed to add to his tally and is stuck on 31 wins. Ricardo Jadoo, having piloted a “double” the previous day to join Galviz in the lead also went  winless on the holiday card.

Harding had ridden seven winners in the first two months of the season. The former champion then flew over to Caymanas Park, Jamaica where he continued his trade for five months, during which he made sporadic visits to send his tally to 14. Harding, the runner-up in the 2002 Jamaican Championship returned home in July. The past champion began producing winners at an alarming rate to close in on the two longtime leaders, edging close on 28 wins with a riding treble on Monday. Sheldon Rodrigo seems to have things his own way among the apprentices. His 13 wins after round 26 of the Arima Race Club season is six clear of his nearest rival. Rodrigo’s chances of a first title became even better, when nearest rival Naim Samaroo, the champion apprentice over the last two seasons, lost his claiming tag, completing his 60th career  win aboard Hundred Percent last raceday. The elevation of Samaroo to the full-fledged jockey ranks leaves Kumar Bissoon and Gary Laban  trailing Rodrigo on six wins each. Following are the standing for both divisions after Independence Day.