Henry rides 300th winner

THRILLING DEAD-HEAT: The grey horses, PREDECESSOR (right) with Charles Hussey aboard, and ZEEDON under apprentice Kerry Perry, provided a dead-heat in the 10th race at Caymanas Park yesterday, as both jockeys rode two winners each on the card. - Dennis Coke

By Orville Clarke, Freelance Writer

LEADING JOCKEY Wesley Henry rode three winners at Caymanas Park yesterday, including the 300th of his career aboard 3-5 favourite GO BABY GO in the opening race over the straight five course.

Henry, who started riding in April 1996 having graduated from the Jockeys' School with 11 others, also won aboard odds-on favourite GOINGTOKANSASCITY in the third and rounded off with 6-5 favourite DANCING LADY, a narrow winner of the sixth race for $100,000 claimers.

Popularly called "Callaloo" and "Greens" by his fans, Henry who became champion jockey while still an apprentice in 1997, his first full season, seized the opportunity to widen his lead over title-chasing apprentice Ramon Parish, moving to 40 winners. This is five clear of Parish who rode two winners in NUCLEAR POWER (7-2) and BAY SAVAGE (12-1).

Henry's 300th winner has come in just over five years of race riding, but the jockey was quick to point out that he would have passed 500 earlier had he not elected to ride abroad on a number of occasions.

"I was away from Caymanas Park for exactly one year between the latter part of 1999 and up to November of last year," Henry said. "During this time I was chilling out in New York and even rode a couple of winners at Aqueduct.

"But this year things are different and I am back home in an effort to win my second jockeys' title.

"Things are really going my way. I am in the lead with 40 winners now and once I avoid injury, I am confident of winning," said the jockey who has also ridden a number of winners in Trinidad.

Not to be outdone, in-form Richie Todd, who leads the trainers' standings with the most winners, followed up his double last Saturday by posting three winners on the 11-race programme.

They were GO BABY GO, NUCLEAR POWER, who just held on in a controversial photo-finish from the fast-finishing SUCKIE YACKIE, and BAY SAVAGE, who made all in the $205,000-$185,000 claming race over the circular nine course.

Todd, voted the outstanding trainer of the year 2000, pushed his season's tally to 40 winners but is third in the standings behind reigning champion Philip Feanny and Wayne DaCosta with just over $6 million in stakes.

Todd is gunning to break Feanny's record of most winners (89) set last year.

The day's feature for the Henry Harrison Snr. Memorial Cup resulted in an upset, victory going to the 32-1 outsider LITTLE M.

Ridden by the sparingly-used jockey Willard Gordon for trainer Carlton Brown, LITTLE M chased long-time leader ESCROW (2-1) in the backstretch before taking over as they swung into the straight. The four-year-old filly by Liver Stand out of Little Mary then moved away to win by four lengths from 6-5 favourite BLAZING SILVER in a field of 10.

The card also produced a controversial dead-heat between 4-5 favourite PREDECESSOR and 9-2 chance ZEEDON in he 10th race, but to many it appeared ZEEDON, on the outside, had gained the nod in the last stride. But the photo-finish camera could not separate them.

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