I Dream Again shocks St. Leger field at Caymanas as overseas Caribbean riders stack stakes wins

I Dream Again, sent off at five to one for owner Derek Smith, rallied through the centre of the track to land the J$4.5 million St. Leger over ten furlongs at Caymanas Park, the second leg of the Triple Crown for three-year-olds and the slowest running of the classic on record at two minutes 14.07 seconds. Longshot Hansa led for much of the journey before fading late, with Burning Hedge third and Guinness Stakes winner Sensational Soul, the six-to-five favourite under Shane Ellis for owner Chevan Maharaj, finishing fourth to halt a Triple Crown sweep.

Robert Halladine, in the silks of sponsor Third Elite Concerned Services, said that once Burning Hedge drew almost level with Hansa, his mount found another gear and he was confident he would overhaul the leader.

The victory gave conditioner Jason De Costa an eighth Jamaican classic in four campaigns at Caymanas and a third straight St. Leger after Toitanium in 2023 and Interesting Times Ahead in 2024. De Costa, who turned forty that week and also visited the winner’s circle at Thistledown in Ohio on the Thursday, explained that the colt had been maturing slowly and had only recently shown he could sustain his effort through an entire race after stronger morning gallops.

Carl Anderson’s Burning Hedge, the three gate and eight-to-five second pick with leading rider Reyan Ricardo Roman after her Thousand Guineas score, chased Bob the Builder and Guinness third I Dream Again in the market at four to one and five to one respectively.

On the same programme, Garfield Sabbat’s six-year-old mare Desert of Malibu, a narrow favourite over Run Julie Run, drew clear by eight and a quarter lengths in the Clovis Metcalfe Trophy over seven and a half furlongs in one minute 32.61 seconds, Roman’s fifth winner on the card and Sabbat’s second Metcalfe score in three years after Atomica in 2023.

At Gulfstream Park in Florida, Barbadian trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., listed among North America’s top conditioners, collected a fourth stakes tally for the local season when Edgar Pérez drove Kenneth Ramsey’s Implementation, the two-to-one second choice after an added-money score in late March, to a Smile Sprint Stakes success in 1:09.95 over six furlongs, with Joseph now eyeing the two-million-dollar Kent Stakes Turf Sprint in late August.

Patrick Husbands, described as Woodbine’s all-time leading rider with 3,700 career wins, added a North American stakes milestone when Our Lady, the two-to-five choice for conditioner Steven Attard, took the US$75,000 Malvern Rose Stakes at Presque Isle Downs in Pennsylvania by half a length from Queen’s Reef in 1:17.66 over six and a half furlongs, his 386th stakes win on the continent.

At Hastings in Canada on Saturday, TNT-based rider Kimal Santo guided Rondelito to the Chris Loseth Stakes in 1:45.15 over eight and a half furlongs, holding Accidental Genius by three quarters of a length for a second stakes win there this term, while Karen Kellawan steered Someday Lady past I’m in Control to capture the Supernatural Stakes by a length and a half in 1:46.12 over the same distance, Kellawan’s second stakes win of the meeting and sixteenth win overall this season.

Across the United States and Canada in the week reviewed, Caribbean riders were credited with eighty-seven wins, including four at Fort Erie for Chris Husbands, four at Century Mile for Dane Nelson to stay atop that colony, two wins including a stakes score at Assiniboia Downs for Rashad Knights, a Wednesday triple at the same track for Antonio Whitehall, and three stakes wins at Grand Prairie for veteran Trevor Simpson.