IT’S VERY CLOSE for Horse-of-the-Year honours
THE votes are in, and the counting has started. The results are as yet unknown but the signs, according to watchers close to the process, are indicating an extremely close race for Horse-of-the-Year 2013 honours involving retired mare St Cecelia and the rising star of racing, the bay filly Princess Popstar.
The Horse-of-the-Year is chosen by racing journalists and selected officials from the promoting company, Caymanas Track Limited (CTL). The word seeping out is that Princess Popstar is just slightly ahead with more votes still to be counted at press time.
If sources are correct and Princess Popstar is voted as the Horse-of-the-Year, it will be quite a historic feat, as no other horse in the annals of local racing at Caymanas Park, which officially started in 1959, has ever worn the mantle of Horse-of-the-Year as a two-year-old juvenile. In fact there was a time when two-year-olds were not even eligible to compete for the top accolade in the sport of horse racing.
St Cecelia (Burning Marque — She’s On Wheels) culminated her stellar racing career with victory in the Caribbean Sprint. Her exploits in 2013 were four wins from six starts and setting a new record of 14 consecutive wins. St Cecelia was trained throughout her racing career by Spencer Chung. She was bred by HAM Stables and is owned by Robert and Valentine Chung. St Cecelia is a former two-time Horse-of-the-Year.
Princess Popstar (Adore The Gold – Doc’s Paladin) started her racing career on September 11, 2013, and immediately signalled her class, winning over five and a half furlongs by 19 lengths. She then chalked up three other wins to become the first juvenile to win the Supreme Ventures-sponsored series of races, which included the top two-year-old race, the one-mile Jamaica Two-Year-Old Stakes.
It was in that race she showed her true colours and superiority as after hitting her right hock in the starting gates, she nevertheless ran like a true champion winning by five and a half lengths, her smallest victory margin to date, completing the one mile journey in a stunning 1:38.4 minutes. Princess Popstar is trained by Philip Feanny, is owned by 2 Penyu and bred by HAM Stables.
The official announcement from CTL is expected some time today.