Dawkins outshines title rivals Foster and Roman with three winners

Dane Dawkins, the 2022 champion jockey, on Saturday upstaged the title-chasing pair of leading rider Tevin Foster and challenger Raddesh Roman with a three-timer at Caymanas Park.

Dawkins, on winter break from Assiniboia Downs in Canada, forced the battling riders to settle for one winner apiece, landing co-features for Richard Azan including 7-1 outsider RAINSVILLE, who caught 1-2 favourite RUN JULIE RUN at the wire in the Errol ‘Big Sub’ Memorial at a mile for overnight-allowance runners.

Going gate-to-wire with Dawkins at five furlongs round in the third, DANKA won owner Monique Azan a $1 million BGLC-TOBA bonus in the Heroes Sprint for two-year-olds, denying Jason DaCosta’s BEAUTIFUL SUNSET.

DaCosta’s runner closed rapidly in a bid to hand the champion trainer’s owners a fourth cheque in the Millionaires Series after HIMAYA won a $2 million bonus for Elizabeth DaCosta in Race 2, Series 3, last Saturday.

Dawkins’ second winner on the nine-race card was 5-1 chance COOKIE DAY N NIGHT for Gary Subratie, leading home stablemate NOBLE ATTITUDE, a 14-1 outsider, for an eye-catching exacta of $2,262.

Foster and Roman had earlier accounted for the first two events on the 10-race card, igniting their respective armies of flag-waving and banner-wielding fans.

Foster took first blood by producing NALA’S BUSHMAN with a very late run to collar subsequently disqualified SENSATIONAL GOLD among $400,000 optional claimers at seven furlongs.

Roman, who started the day trailing Foster by four winners, afterwards powered home 3-5 favourite SIR JOHN in the second at seven furlongs against $750,000 optional claimers.

However, it was Dawkins who went on to star the show, producing RAINSVILLE with a searing run in underfoot conditions to collar Paul Francis aboard 1-2 favourite and Jamaica Derby runner-up, RUN JULIE RUN, who appeared to have the event won after getting rid of pace-setting American, UBELIEVABLE FORCE in the closing event.

Racing continues on Sunday with a Ketch 9 mandatory payout starting at $2.6 million when the horses head to post at noon for the first of nine races.