By Orville Clarke, Freelance WriterTHE OUTCOME of Saturday's prestigious Gold Cup race over seven furlongs has clearly established the fact that the current crop of native bred three-year-olds is the best to grace the Caymanas Park turf in many years.
Confined to top class horses this Gold Cup, sponsored for the first time by the United Bookmakers Association, will long be remembered as the one in which the best of the finest thoroughbreds in the country took the field.
Present were the Red Stripe Superstakes winner PITTACUS, St. Leger hero and fellow native bred three-year-old HERECOMESFUDGIE, 'Horse of the Year' and Champion Sprinter I'MSATISFIED who is not by accident the top rated horse in the country, as well as the top imported horse FORGOTTEN HERO, Superstakes runner-up ROYAL RUN who could be said to be the top distance horse in the country, and of course the crack American sprinter LIL' COUNTRY BOY, a winner of eight races this season.
NOTABLE ABSENTEE
Indeed, the only notable absentee from the Gold Cup field was the classy three-year-old colt A KING IS BORN, who also missed the November 8 Superstakes due to lameness.
Winner of the Track Price 2000 Guineas and the Red Stripe Derby in June, A KING IS BORN is a leading contender for 'Horse of the Year'
honours.
The son of ROYAL MINISTER - DISTINCTLY NATIVE also romped the Digicel Trophy over 1300 metres in near track record time of 1:16.1 in late August on his first try in 'A1' company, which is indeed significant for a native bred three-year-old in the current scheme of things.
His contemporaries PITTACUS (Superstakes) and HERECOMESFUDGIE (Gold Cup) were to follow suit in top class company, making it the first time in a season that a trio of three-year-olds had won at the top level against older horses in many years. And the second tier three-year-olds such as REAR ADMIRAL and JACK DE PRINCE could well make the cut as four-year-olds next year.
FAILED MISERABLY
Last year, the triple crown winner SIMPLY MAGIC failed miserably in the Superstakes and never ran against the best horses in the country again. And in 2001, the top three-year-olds, MILLIMETRE and Derby winner AWESOME POWER took some time to cut it in top class company.
The same was true of the 2000 triple crown winner I'MSATISFIED, who was to improve tremendously as a four-year-old, while in 1999 the Derby, Oaks and St. Leger winner GOOD PROSPECT failed to impact in the last three months, leaving the late blooming MENUDO to carry the 3-y-o flag successfully in winning his first Superstakes that year along with the Harry Jackson Memorial Cup.
In my research, the most comparable year to 2003 in so far as the spread of talented three-year-olds is concerned was 1983. That year the Guineas, Derby and Oaks winner HELLO POOCHIE LIU won in 'A1' company, not to mention the subsequent 'Horse of the Year' SIR HOWARD, 2000 Guineas hero EXPLOSIVE STAR and WARFARE who went on to win the Superstakes in 1984.
