Favourites rule Reggae 6

PUNTERS were let off easy yesterday, 2-1 chance SUPER ALEX unsaddled as the fifth favourite on the Reggae 6, resulting in a $9,127 payout to winning tickets on mandatory-payout day.

Visiting Maryland-based riders, apprentice Jeiron Barbosa and Angel Cruz, were aboard two of the first three winners on the 11-race card.

On a chance ride astride Robert Pearson's RANI BANGALA in the opening event, 2023 Eclipse Award finalist Barbosa split Jamaica's two leading riders - Tevin Foster aboard BERN NOTICE and Raddesh Roman on KP CHOICE - for a strong finish with the down-in-class mare at six and a half furlongs.

RANI BANGALA's victory at even-money set the tone for a run of fancied horses. Roman afterwards reduced Foster's lead to three atop the riders' standings with an eye-catching gate-to-wire win aboard Philip Feanny's imported UNBELIEVABLE FORCE, who clocked a smashing 1:06.4 as the 3-5 choice on his second outing among local-bred non-winners of two races.

Cruz, North America's 2014 Eclipse Award-winning apprentice, forced the pace with Anthony Nunes' IMMEASURABLE JOY, a 4-5 second-favourite in the third for three-year-old maidens, shaking off TIFFANY BLU and 25-1 outsider DOVE before lasting home from NEVER at seven furlongs.

Champion jockey Reyan Lewis enjoyed an armchair ride aboard Spencer Chung's United States-bred GOODBYE FIREFLY, disputing the lead with AFFAIR before pulling away him for a 13-length win in an impressive 1:28.0 against local-bred non-winners of two races.

Pearson unsaddled his second derby-day winner, 3-5 favourite SOCIAL MISCHIEF, ridden out by Foster at 1000 metres straight, beating three-year-old maidens in a moderate 1:02.3, restoring the leading rider's advantage to four.

Speedy EAZY PEAZY tried to turn the smooth-sailing Reggae 6 on its head at odds of 13-1, attempting back-to-back wins after easily beating non-winners of three races at seven and a half furlongs on July 20.

Setting off in front with Oshane Nugent, Phillip Lee's EAZY PEAZY straightened clear of LOYAL ACTION, who chased down the backstretch. Though brave on the lead, class caught up with EAZY PEAZY a furlong out, saving many Reggae 6 bets, when Carl Anderson's SUPER ALEX came calling with a smooth run under Aaron Chatrie, winning in 1:28.2 ahead of HUNTSMAN charging home for second.