By Kent Layne
Legends of Racing Syndicate-owned Canadian-bred Rising Star, back from Injury, will be aiming for three wins in a row in the Boxing Day Trophy Grade 1 event at the Garrison Savannah on Monday.
The Boxing Day Trophy is carded for race 8 on the 10-race card to run off at 4:40 p.m. with a purse of $35,000, going 1570 meters for three-year-olds and older. It is a very exciting six-horse field which pools together the best horses in Barbados. Three horses in the field won their last starts and the other three placed second, third and fourth respectively. It is very rare to see an entire field having placed in their last starts in a Grade 1 race and this shows that a small field can still be a very competitive one.
Trained by Eddie Belle, Rising Star is undefeated for 2021 and displayed a terrific last to first finishing burst to defeat 2019 Sandy Lane Gold Cup winner Celestial Storm on June 18 in The Welcome Back Handicap Trophy at 1570 meters, his first start this year.
The son of 2004 Breeders Cup Classic winner Ghost Zapper and half-sibling to Canadian Sky Classic third place performer Seeking Albert, returned to races on August 14, this time going 1800 meters with a carbon copy style to his previous win, travelling from last to first while rocketing past pace setters Terrain and Trini Aviator. He opened up a monstrous 12 14 gap and grounded Celestial Storm into second place once again.
But there was drama after the running of the race as Rising Star threw jockey Rasheed Hughes to the ground and galloped off jumping over the railings opposite George Washington House. This resulted in a large gash on Rising Star’s leg with many believing he would not be seen racing for the rest of 2021. But good work from veterinarian Dr Jonathan White proved those doubtful Thomases wrong as he has been going great guns at morning gallops in preparation for tomorrow’s racing card. Rising Star will be ridden by his regular partner Hughes and will be carrying 128 Ibs out of Gate 1.
Martin and Dan Raizman-owned USA imported four-year-old colt Terrain will be seeking revenge on Rising Star as he finished third to him on August 14, the last time he was defeated. Since Rising Star’s absence, Terrain has been in the spotlight beating Celestial Storm by a head on September 18 at the 1570 meters distance.
Terrain won his first major race on October 30 The T. A Tommy Peirce Memorial going 1570 while making all the running. He held off Trini Aviator into second place, Gandalf into third, and the 2019 Gold Cup winner into fourth in a near-record time of 133.4. The Richard Deane-trained animal will have Rickey Walcott in the saddle carrying 128 Ibs out of Gate 6.
Fourth placed horse in the Sandy Lane Gold Cup 2020, Trini Aviator, is one of the animals in the field to have two wins in his last three starts and could cause an upset.
Owned By Terry Inniss and Dwight Hunte, Trini Aviator outran Terrain on August 7 to win his first race since coming over from Trinidad.
Conditioned by Rommel Lovell, he finished fourth to Rising Star on August 14, was then victorious on September 4 over 1100 meters, before running an outstanding race to be runner-up to Terrain in The T. A Tommy Peirce Memorial.
Trini Aviator who is making a name for himself as a useful sprinter was once again in the winner’s circle over 1100 meters on November 27. Trini Aviator will have N’Rico Prescod in the saddle and carrying 128Ibs from Gate 3.
2018 Barbados Derby victor Gandalf, the winner of the Boxing Day Feature that same year over Celestial Storm, became the fourth Derby winner to win the event at three years old after Don Juan in 1987, Areutlkintome in 2009 and Night Rider in 2013.
Celestial Storm went on to win on Boxing Day 2019 and although the two titans have not won going 1570 meters since their Boxing Day triumphs, they will still create interest tomorrow.
Owned by Bills Inc. and trained by Victor Cheeseman, Gandalf went winless in 2019, then bounced back last year to win the Tanglewood Stakes at 2000 meters for locally bred horses, as well as the Kingly Street Handicap over the top-rated horses going 1100 meters.
Gandalf won twice this year when he took the Breeders Classic over 1800 meters on August 28 and then again on September 21 at a trip of 1100 meters. Antonio Whitehall has the reins on Gandalf carrying 128lbs out of Gate 2.
My selections: Rising Star, Terrain, Trini Aviator, Gandalf.
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