DaCosta/Walker: Modern horseracing’s successful combo
The triple championship winning combination of top thoroughbred racehorse conditioner Wayne DaCosta and jockey Omar Walker continue to flourish at Caymans Park as they once again combined to dominate a programme and summarily throw out another strong challenge in an attempt to cop their fourth consecutive championship title by posting their first four-timer for the season on Saturday.
Going to post on six likely winners on the nine-race card, the combination was led by the brilliant four-year-old American import Cassanova Boy. The American-bred three-year-old dark bay filly Fluffy got the ball rolling in the first race, the four-year-old filly Bullet Line in the fifth, followed by the three-year-old debutante, chestnut colt Lifeisjustforliving, in the seventh and then the marauding American invader Cassanova Boy put the icing on the cake.
Cassanova Boy was chalking up his fifth consecutive win from as many starts with a Stakes record from a scintillating run over 1,500 metres among Open Allowance horses in the penultimate race of the day.
With only nine of the proposed 88 racedays completed, DaCosta has taken a firm grip on the early proceedings of the trainers’ championship race by amassing some $7.7 million from 48 starts with 16 winners and leads the chase by well over $5 million.
Walker, on the other hand, has surged into the lead with 14 wins from 39 mounts — three more than his closest rival Shane Ellis on 11 wins from 43 rides.
While Walker was away recuperating from injuries sustained during the end of 2009, Ellis, who is now the stable jockey at the Anthony Nunes’ stables, stood in for him at the Wayne DaCosta stables and had grabbed an early lead before Walker returned to the saddle for the new season. Both came into Saturday’s races locked on 10 wins, but Ellis could only muster one win to Walker’s four.
DaCosta, has been conditioning horses since 1977 and up to the end of last season had accumulated in excess of $400,000,000 in stakes earnings. To date, he has saddled well over 1,500 winners.
Walker, on the other hand, began his professional riding career at the end of July 2006 was taken under the wings of DaCosta and has so far ridden over 350 winners and won three consecutive jockeys’ championships. Walker won his first jockeys’ title the following year with 95 wins.
The year 2008 was his most productive when he booted home 135 winners for his second hold on the title. In his superb run of form, he fell several times with the last being his worst as he was sidelined for two months. But being industrious and a hard worker in the mornings and afternoons on the exercise track, he had ridden 97 winners in the 10 months he was healthy which in the end proved to be enough to give him his third jockey’s title as his nearest rival Paul Francis failed by a single win to finish on 96.
Walker missed the first two racedays of the current season and resumed his riding career on January 9. Since then he has “settled down to some hard work” and after seven racesdays in the saddle, visited the winner’s enclosure 14 times to head the standings for the first time.
Asked how he felt about being back on top of the standings, Walker said: “No difference at all. I’m accustomed to be in that position so all I will do is to continue to work hard, try to stay injury-free and see how it turns out.”
With DaCosta taking early control of the trainers’ championship standings, his response was a philosophical one. “Let us say life is just for living and as you pretty well are aware nothing is certain in life and in horseracing there is no exception,” he said.