Duke, God of Love primed for another captivating battle
WITH the condition and distance not a problem to his style of running, Duke looks the prime candidate to take home the $1.2-million Pari-mutuel Department Trophy feature race at Caymanas Park today.
Duke, a six-year-old grey horse by Casual Trick out of the Bop mare Lady Macbeth, has been timely prepared by his trainer Gary Subratie for this trophy race, and if all goes well this should be a cruise for him.
Duke was beaten by King Arthur in the recent Lady Geeta Trophy over 6 furlongs (1,200m) two weeks ago. Duke had pointed on the field at the top of the lane but gave way in deep stretch to the powerful King Arthur, who went on to win the contest by 3¾ lengths in a time of 1:12.1 for the distance. That run showed that Duke is in good form and is ready for today’s assignment.
God of Love, from the stables of Fitzgerald Richards, is the only runner in the sixhorse field that could deny
Duke a win here.
Go Deh Girl, trained by champion conditioner Anthony Nunes, has the potential to run the top two close but the others — Generations, Big Big Daddy and Helicopter — are in deep waters here.
The three-year-old and upward Open Allowance contest venturing over the straight (1000m) is positioned as the 10th event on the 11-race card with a post time of 5:00 pm. First race is at 11:35 am.
Duke is a very consistent run-on sprinter who has a known likeness for the five-straight. He has raced five times over the straight, holding two victories, two second places and one third.
Duke could prove too strong for rivals as he can stay with the pace and then offer his trademark kick when the horses move to the main track. Dane Dawkins will ride at 57.0kgs (126lb).
God of Love ran out an easy four-length winner when travelling five furlongs round on May 21, beating Laban and
Solid Approach. That win was in the class below, however
God of Love, who has been a consistent runner at this level, comes into this race well-tuned and could make it two in two. Plus God of Love, in moving up a grade, has been allotted 53.0kgs (117lb), which is 4.0kgs (9lb) less than he carried on last, and weight always makes a difference.
Go Deh Girl is in a very tough spot as she makes her return after a break of 56 days. This filly may need more time to find her best footing but is more advanced than the other runners and is a sure bet for the third spot here.
Generational has no chance of winning, Essentially, Big Big Daddy is a filler and Helicopter should not pose any threat for the main protagonists.
Also on tap is a threeyear-old and upward Non-restricted Overnight Allowance event going seven furlongs (1,400m) which sees the return of foreigners Double Diva and Eroy.
Trained by Jason Dacosta,
Double Diva returns from a 40-day break to face what is her toughest task to date. The four-year-old bay filly has racked up three consecutive victories from only four starts. Her last win came at this distance on April 18 when Double Diva won by 6½ lengths in a time of 1:25.3. It is going to take a smart performance to deny her here.
Eroy, who is a very consistent sort at the higher level, returns here from a 182-day break. His last race was on November 27 of last year when he was a winner, defeating current Horse of the Year Further and Beyond over seven and a half furlongs (1,500m).
Though just returning, Eroy has been well-prepared and could prove equal to the task at hand.
Ones to watch:
Race 1) Maggie’s Boy/select Me/great Wayne
Race 2) Papa Albert/the Nextbigting/powerful Red
Race 3) Mr Lyndhurst/bruce Wayne/buckaluck
Race 4) Blood Fire/olde Wharf/another Bullet
Race 5) XY Soul/wifey Sez So/nina Dorada
Race 6) Eddietwentynine/ Potential/aka Storm
Race 7) Thegoodlife/pass The Booze/legal Opportunity
Race 8) Blue Seas/always Vigorous/no Surrender
Race 9) Artesia/sweetyman/ Sensational Ending
Race 10) Duke/god of Love/ Go Deh Girl
Race 11) Double Diva/eroy/ Curlin’s Affair