Favourites ensure meagre Reggae 6 payout

IF Heroes' Day was a peak Reggae 6 payout, $244,117, Saturday's $3,745 was certainly a valley with four winning favourites, the other two events landed by horses with reasonable chances.

I'M OUTSTANDING, the 7-5 favourite - failing to finish the Reggae 6 opener - was no real jerk to punters. ALCHEMY OF SOULS, fourth in the Jamaica Derby and runner-up in the Winston Griffiths Classic, was always a live prospect, diving forward with Phillip Parchment at odds of 9-5 to nail KHALEESI stealing home.

EARMARK BLITZ keeping company with WAYNE'S PRINCESS at exercise and returning to gallop six furlongs in 1:18.3 were adequate signs that the even-money favourite's second run out of Al Brown's barn would have been lethal in the second against fellow maidens at seven and a half furlongs.

Unlike the opening event in which he was caught by Parchment aboard ALCHEMY OF SOULS, Raddesh Roman was handed an armchair ride, streaking away at the end under EARMARK BLITZ.

NOBLE SOVEREIGN reversed his inexplicably poor run behind HAVAJOY by tracking stablemate NOBLE MONARCH in the third, easily running away in the stretch run under Tajay Suckoo, the claiming rider's first mount back from injury aboard a confidence-boosting 6-5 favourite.

FIDELITY winning the fourth at odds of 5-2 again emphasised the wisdom of treading carefully in two-year-old races, more so blink sprints. UNCLE NALLY, the 2-1 choice, who worked best with 47.0 from the gate, swerved badly at the start and ran green throughout, darting towards the inner rail, further thwarting his chances, which FIDELITY capitalised on.

IRISH WISH's previous run, second behind course-specialist TALONA, justified 1-2 on the board with an easy victory, followed by the Reggae 6's fourth winning favourite, RUM WITH ME, a 3-5 money-back programmed by Peter John Parsard, whose template of finding a claimer with back class, turns out sure winners down the adder with adequate vet care and feed.

Should Hurricane Melissa not do too bad a number on Caymanas Park throughout the week, Saturday's Reggae 6 will open at $6.6 million.

- JIMMIE