The four-year-old chestnut filly Break of Dawn opened the 60th-year celebration of Caymanas Park as a racing destination by winning the first of 10 races on Saturday last (August 24).

In so doing, Break of Dawn, owned by Andre Graham and trained by his father Neive Graham, posted four notable accomplishments.

One, it was the filly’s first win from 18 career starts. It was the first winner Graham was saddling for his son, who himself is a trainer but not active at Caymanas Park; it was also the trainer’s birthday and his first win for the racing season.

Break of Dawn, ridden by the 4.0 kg claiming apprentice Roger Hewitt, went on to win the maiden condition race for native-bred four-year-olds and upwards as a 5-2 chance at a mile (1,600 metres) with Jamaican Storm, ridden by Shane Ellis, coming in second. Whatever, with apprentice Matthew Bennett in the saddle, was third.

A smiling Graham told The Supreme Racing Guide: “This is the first winner I have saddled for my son as an owner. I am very proud of that. This horse has presented a lot of challenges in her training. I am therefore faced with the unusual situation where Break of Dawn has an overactive metabolism and because of that, she does not store much glycogen in her muscles. Irrespective of how much you feed her, she cannot gain weight but I did some enlightening research and discovered if you were to do some glycogen remodelling it could help.”

So you are upbeat by this success? “Yes, I am for it helped me to produce the first winner for my son and today is my birthday also.”