Brian Harding aboard Zickwarty, his third and final winner at Caymanas Park on Saturday. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
TRINIDADIAN jockey Brian Harding made a triumphant return to Caymanas Park on Saturday, thanks to three winners from six rides on the 10-race card.
Harding, who had not ridden locally since last year, opened his account in the very first race aboard 5-2 chance UNTOUCHABLE for trainer Anthony 'Baba' Nunes and Barbadian owner Elias Haloute.
He came back to finish second aboard the highly fancied debutante AD INFINITUM (9-5) in the fourth race for native bred two-year-olds, only to be awarded the race on the disqualification of first past the post SPANISH FLEET, a 3-5 favourite also racing for the first time with five-time champion Winston Griffiths riding for many-time champion trainer Philip Feanny.
Harding completed the three-timer aboard the sparingly raced but impressive American three-year-old colt ZICKWARTY in the seventh race over the round five course for overnight allowance horses. Incidentally, all three winners are owned by Haloute and trained by Nunes.
FAILED TO CATCH SIMPSON
In addition, Harding was competitive aboard the 7-1 chance PRIME PRINCESS in the third race where the chestnut filly just failed to catch the Trevor Simpson-ridden favourite SUNSET LADY, while he was a fast-finishing second aboard the Nunes-trained THE MINISTER in the fifth race won by 9-2 chance COURT CASE despite having to cope with a poor draw on the inside.
Harding's sixth mount, SENOR GATO, could only manage fifth in the ninth race for the Sweet Ruckus Trophy, the in-form American colt failing in his bid to make it four in a row.
The 41-year-old rider said he was happy to reconnect from day one and this is only the start of something good.
"I was a bit nervous going down to the gate aboard Untouchable," he confessed, "but once I was in and the gates opened the juices began to flow and I knew what I had to do."
Harding said he will ride on tomorrow's mid-week card before returning to Trinidad for Christmas, but will be back in Jamaica early in the New Year to ride full time as stable jockey for Nunes. Harding has chalked up some notable wins for the Nunes brothers, Andrew and Anthony, since he first rode here in the mid-90s.
With Saturday's three-timer, Harding has ridden 193 winners at Caymanas Park, including back-to-back Superstakes winners, ADORING GROOM (1996) and the 99-1 outsider MY FRIEND RICH (1997). He is by far the most successful jockey from the Eastern Caribbean to have ridden at Caymanas Park, ahead of fellow Trinidadians Vishnu Singh (114) and Learie Seecharan (69). Looking ahead, Harding had this to say.
JOCKEY'S TITLE
"I am looking forward to make an impact next year," he says. "If I get the rides I have every confidence that I can be a contender for the jockey's title.
"Trevor Simpson will be tough to beat," he concedes, "but I just have to go out there and do what I have to do and see how it unfolds."
O.C.
