By Orville Clarke, Freelance WriterBANG in form lightweight jockey Peter Bryan ensured there would be big carryovers in the Super-6 and Pick-9 when he rode three winners at Caymanas Park on Saturday, including feature race upsetter THE MINISTER at odds of 29-1 and SHADE OF JADE at 10-1.
His third winner was the 7-5 favourite PROCEEDACCORDINGLY in the fourth race, but this was outside the confines of the Super-6 races which commenced from the sixth.
With the Super-6 in particular eluding punters for the second consecutive raceday, the carryover to this Saturday Oaks meet stands at a whopping $1.1 million.
Upsets by THE MINISTER in the seventh race for the Ambassador's Trophy and SHADE OF JADE in the sixth ensured that there would be no takers.
The Pick-9, in contrast, offers the guaranteed minimum carryover of $500,000 even though like the Super-6, it was not caught at the Easter Monday meet.
DIFFERENCE
This is telling us that the Super-6 is selling twice as fast as the Pick-9, but this is so because six is easier to catch than nine. But you wouldn't know the difference on Saturday. Everything was hard, even the Bet Three embracing the last three races.
Bryan has been riding pretty well this season and after Saturday's three-timer, improved sharply into fifth in the standings with 14 winners. While 'Pam Pam' enjoyed notable success, top jockeys Shane Ellis and Trevor Simpson would rather forget April 17.
Both came up empty-handed in 11 races, Ellis in particular going winless after it appeared he would have ridden at least three winners. The 2000 champion jockey struck out on such highly fancied horses as PITTACUS, MOJOJOJO, SIR ABBAS MANGAL, KAYDENE, EPICTATUS and ZACKATTACK, most finishing out of the first three.
In winning the Ambassador's Trophy feature by 7-1/4 lengths, THE MINISTER defied all logic as there was nothing in his previous form lines to suggest he had the ability to win, let alone spreadeagle the opposition. As it turned out, the top three contenders PITTACUS, SATISFIER and hat-trick seeker RIVER JORDON (all toting topweight of 57.0kg) fell victim not only to THE MINISTER, but fellow lightweight JOHNNY'S KING as well.
DISTANCE
Interestingly, when JOHNNNY'S KING met THE MINISTER (giving him 2.0kg) over the same distance on March 27, JOHNNY'S KING won in the smart time of 1:45.2 while THE MINISTER finished 13 lengths eighth.
Coming back on identical terms Saturday, THE MINISTER turned the form book upside down in beating JOHNNY'S KING by 7-1/4 lengths in the pedestrian time of 1:47.3 - two and one fifth of a second slower than the time recorded by JOHNNY'S KING on March 27. How come? Don't ask me to explain this one.
Another lightweight jockey riding consistently well is Paul 'Country' Francis, who chalked up two winners in LA RUDE (2-1) and HADDO at 11-1 in the closing race to regain second from Simpson in the jockeys' standings. Francis has now ridden 23 winners, three behind Ellis in the championship race and two ahead of Simpson.
