Two punters win big By Orville Clarke, Freelance Writer
TWO players with 31 points have shared the $71,000 category two first prize declared on last week's Racing Pools game with 31 points. Both hail from Portmore (one from Waterford, the other Bridgeport) and each will each receive $35,844.10 along with a number of lesser prizes. The Bridgeport player took his chances with $1,620.00 and gained one first, six second and 17 third prizes to finish with $49,878.60. He missed fifth race winner, SUB ZERO at 15-1. And the Waterford punter spent $384.00 and in addition to first prize, collected three second and four third dividends for $41,648.60. He missed 7-1 shot MATANAH in the fourth. With maximum points eluding everyone, the carryover to this week's game stands at $102,411.90. A breakdown of the other prizes is as follows: # 13 second dividends of $1,575.50 each for 30 points. # 38 third dividends of $269.50 for 29 points. # Sales totalled $413,785.50 on 1,831 coupons -- up from $344,421.00 on 1,707 coupons the previous week. On a day when SUB ZERO, MATANAH and to a lesser extent BUTCHER MAN at 4-1 and PERSONAL NEMESIS at 3-1 in the Digecel Irish Jamaican Stakes provided the upsets, there were two winning favourites in RIVER PRINCESS and JADE RUNNER, both at 8-5. Other popular winners not starting favourites were DAME MARGOT at 9-5 in the sixth and SIR RAMNATH GUPTA at 7-2 in the closing race. Significantly, two horses widely used as bankers sent 90 percent of players crashing out of the game. These were KING AL (4-5) who could only manage fourth in the fourth race and to the surprise of everyone, top dog DEPUTY'S REPORT at 3-5 in the seventh race for the Digicel Stakes. DEPUTY'S REPORT ran a listless race to finish 7 1/2 lengths fifth and this must rank as the worse performance of his career. It was rumoured that the outstanding American horse was affected by a coughing problem. Whether this is true is up in the air, for no one is saying for sure. One thing is beyond dispute: all was not right with 'The Deputy' on Saturday. Connections were hoping that he could use the race to establish himself as a strong 'Horse of the Year' contender in a year when MILLIMETRE, AWESOME POWER and MENUDO should each have strong following by December 31. DEPUTY'S REPORT could redeem himself in the months ahead. He will have the prestigious Red Stripe Mile and the Gold Cup, among other 'A' class races, to set the record straight. Champion trainer Philip Feanny highlighted the Pools races with a sparkling triple comprising the lightly raced but improving 3-y-o colt JADE RUNNER, rejuventated MATANAH and of course PERSONAL NEMESIS who made all in the feature. Feanny pulled off a notable training feat by posting the winner and runner-up in the Digicel Stakes, PERSONAL NEMESIS just managing to stave off the versatile SOLID IMPACT who produced a devastating last furlong run. That tent on the infield to house guests on the Digicel raceday was something to behold. That wasn't a tent, it was a luxury liner.
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