Barnaby Leads Ante-Post Market in Seeking My Dream Trophy at Caymanas Park

Thoroughbred racing returns to Caymanas Park on Saturday with a ten-race card that puts additional Mouttet Mile qualifying points up for grabs. Six horses will line up in the fifth running of the Seeking My Dream Trophy, a graded stakes and open allowance race over seven and a half furlongs, with 60 points toward December’s fifth Mouttet Mile awarded to the winner.

Reigning champion trainer Jason DaCosta and three-time former champion Anthony Nunes account for the entire field. DaCosta enters four runners: 2024 Mouttet Mile winner and former Horse of the Year Fun Khian Donn, the two-to-one overnight second choice with Robert Halledeen aboard; Is That a Fact, ridden by apprentice Emilio McGleen; Gervano, with in-form apprentice Jahiem Anderson; and California Crown, partnered by Aaron Chatrie. Nunes sends out ante-post favourite Barnaby at seven to five, with two-time reigning champion jockey Radish Roman, and Neo Star under apprentice Tajae Sewell.

California Crown is expected to dictate the early pace and may face pressure from Neo Star, a scenario that should favour runners who finish strongly, including Fun Khian Donn, Gervano at a light 106 lb, and Barnaby. Barnaby’s task is delicate: he cannot be settled too far off the speed yet must avoid being drawn into a prolonged duel on the lead. He comes off a six-length victory on 26 April over nine furlongs and 25 yards, when Gervano and Neo Star finished behind him, and benefits from a nine-pound allowance at the weights that could help him post back-to-back wins if he repels late challenges from Fun Khian Donn and Gervano.

The programme also features the divided James B. Dawes Memorial Trophy for overnight allowance horses over five furlongs on the straight as the supporting feature. The Seeking My Dream Trophy is race four at 1:50 p.m., with first post for the card at 11:50 a.m.