Image: Darren Winningham
The Chris and Corey Munce training partnership has already dispatched forty-one metropolitan winners in the current season, which is only just halfway through.
The fact there are six more metropolitan winners than they did all of last season underlines the steepness of the stable’s upward trajectory, which currently sees them sitting in a clear second place on the Brisbane Trainers’ Premiership table.
On Saturday, the Munce team will look to make their presence felt in an ‘away fixture’ when they send Jamaica’s capable chestnut star into battle in the $2 million Inglis Millennium, a limited 1100m race at Randwick.
The colt, a son of Profiteer who will be the only runner to represent Queensland in the rich two-year-old competition, has had two career starts.
He will go into Saturday’s race as the last-start winner, having easily taken into account his opposition in a two-year handicap on the Sunshine Coast over 1000 metres, putting in a performance in line with his restrictive $1.40 starting price on that occasion.
The horse he beat there at home, Cause She Can, had shown some potential of her own by winning on debut in her previous start. The fact that Star Of Jamaica carried 5kg more than Cause She Can and gave her a 1.79 thrashing added luster to Star Of Jamaica’s performance.
But it’s doubtful Star Of Jamaca has played for that… his debut… which could perhaps provide further clues as to his prospects on Saturday.
As two-year-olds can do… not just on their debut, but at any time… Star Of Jamaica did a lot wrong in his first race. The official Stewards report noted that Star Of Jamaica ‘started clumsily and lost ground’… and… ‘raced green through the closing stages.’
Despite this, Star Of Jamaica finished second and although he was defeated by a decisive margin of two lengths by Dream Roca, his stubbornness meant he gave Dream Roca a start, as well as a 1kg lead at the weights, factors that Star Of Jamaica could not overcome on the day.
Another very important consideration here is that Dream Roca then did his best to win the NZ$1 million Karaka Millions (2YO) in sparkling fashion.
As expected, the Inglis Millennium field is packed with talent and Star of Jamaica will take on fifteen opponents… including seven other winners from the last start… in a real test of the power of young two-year-olds.
His case is bolstered by the fact that he scored well in hurdle number five and will have Zac Lloyd, who currently leads the Sydney Jockeys’ Premiership, in the saddle.
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