Short-priced winners dominate Reggae 6

GARY SUBRATIE's 7-1 chance, JUSTIN BIGTIME, was the longest shot on Sunday's Reggae 6, which returned $12,483 to winning tickets, dwarfed by Saturday's $106,322 payout.

Unlike Saturday, which had tricky winners averaging 4-1, Sunday's bet got rolling with two popular winners, PHENOMENAL ONE and PRINCESS CATALEYA.

PHENOMENAL ONE blew away $250,000 claimers at five furlongs round, a 7-5 winner followed by 2-5 favourite PRINCESS CATALEYA wearing down ROMAN PRINCESS at the wire, giving Dane Nelson and Patrick Lynch the first of two winners on the nine-race card.

Lynch returned in the seventh for victory with two-year-old STRONG MIND, who became the third horse to win a $2 million bonus carryover in the BGLC-TOBA Millionaires Series, beating IDEAL WINNA in the Miss Ruth at six and a half furlongs.

STRONG MIND, one of two horses in the eight-horse field, who did not come under the hammer at the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association of Jamaica's 2023 Mixed Sale, was made eligible for the added bonus by way of a $150,000 eligibility fee.

JUSTIN BIGTIME, reporting off a near three-month break for his fifth career start, surprised seasoned sprinters at four and a half furlongs straight to land the third with in-form Dane Dawkins.

EAGLE ONE turned up the sounder animal to beat old rival EMPEROROFTHECATS in a driving finish at five furlongs straight in the fourth. Running at odds of 8-5, EAGLE ONE got her talons into EMPEROROFTHECATS early and never let go, getting the upper hand inside the final furlong.

Debutant GARLAND, an in-utero, was always hard to beat among four-year-old maidens whereas MANIUSHE's scratch in the sixth cleared the path for PAPA GRAY to close the Reggae 6 as an even-money favourite.

Racing continues on Saturday in what will be a packed December schedule of seven meets including Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and Saturday 28th.

sports@gleanerjm.com