Country Train again

Orville Clarke, Gleaner Writer

Champion jockey Dick Cardenas notched his second consecutive feature race win at Caymanas Park yesterday, when booting home 3-4 favourite COUNTRY TRAIN in the round-five feature for the Terremoto trophy, confined to native-bred two-year-olds.

Cardenas won last Saturday's feature for the Seek Back-to-School Trophy aboard 9-2 chance REASONABLE PRESS, winning by a short head. COUNTRY TRAIN, in comparison, romped home by five lengths from 9-5 second favourite ALSON in a field which was badly cut up.

Both MUSIC DIRECTOR and C C COLQUHOUN (both lame) were declared late non-starters, reducing the field to four.

COUNTRY TRAIN was well away from the outside post position, cruised past the early leader AMITY (3-1) leaving the half mile and kept on strongly to win unchallenged, posting her second consecutive win on this her third start.

A small-built dark bay filly by Image Maker out of Storm Within, bred by the Argyll Farms Limited, COUNTRY TRAIN is owned and trained by Harry Parsard, who purchased her privately for the modest sum of $350,000 as a yearling. Yesterday she pushed her earnings to almost $1 million.

Parsard, who once worked with the British Railway, said: "COUNTRY TRAIN is turning out to be a real bargain and we are yet to see the best of her."

Earlier in the afternoon, the Gary Subratie-trained 3-y-o filly AWESOME CAMILLE (Dane Nelson up) completed a hat-trick of wins when going wire-to-wire in the third race over the round-five course.