Defending champion Easy Time will leave from the outside 12-gate in Sunday’s 1,600-metre Banks DIH-sponsored Guyana Cup horse meet, which will be run off at the Rising Sun Turf Club (RSTC) on the West Coast of Berbice on Sunday, August 11, 2024.
His newly imported USA-bred stablemate Stat will leave from the inside one-gate in this prestigious event, which carries a record purse of US$53,819.500.
The Master Z-owned, six-year-old Kentucky-bred Easy Time, a son of Not Time/ Rushing Falls, will be partnered by regular jockey Colin Ross for trainer Nasrudeen Mohamed Jr.
The 32-year-old Mohamed could become the first trainer since the first running of this event in 2007 to record the first hat-trick in this marquee event.
Asked about the inside and outside post positions: draw one-gate for newcomer Stat, and 12-gate for Easy Time, Mohamed has said: “I saw the jockey (Colin Ross) had a different look. Stat got a good draw. He has the speed. It is a very competitive race, as the horses entered in this race are stakes or graded-placed. This year’s running is the most competitive Guyana Cup ever run off. I wish every owner of horses entered in the race the best of luck.”
Members of the head table: from left are Nasrudeen Mohamed Jr, promoter and trainer; Mortimer George, Special Events Manager at Banks DIH; Steve Ninvalle, Director of Sport; Dr Dwight Waldron, CEO of the Guyana Livestock Development Authority; and Glen Mohammed, a steward
Young Jayden Jagdeo, whose dad Therbhuwan won the inaugural event with Ice Follies in 2007, asked about his dad’s two runners, Loyal Company (gate 3) and Oy Vey (10), said, “They are exercising good so far. They have settled in well. The competition is good. The defending champion Easy Time will be the horse, I think, but I am confident about our horses.”
No trainer has ever recorded a hat-trick of wins in this event. Senior trainer Colin Elcock scored back-to-back successes but has never won the hat-trick. Similarly, veteran trainer Fazal Habibulla’s horses have won on three occasions but have never won the hat-trick. Therbhuwan Jagdeo holds the unbreakable record of having secured the first win in 2007 with TNT-bred Ice Follies.
Asked about the draw, Dennis Deoroop responded, “The draw is not bad. I prefer the outside, because, if you miss, you get closed, as it is a full gate of 12. The competition has a lot of newly imported (and) very good horses. I still believe the horses that are here and have acclimatized are the ones (to look out for). I think Easy Time is the horse (to beat). (He) recently won at Port Mourant, and as I said, the horses that settled in, like Bossalina, the track conditions are different for them. Apart from the weather, the horses are okay.
Deleep Esreepersaud, owner/ trainer of Bossalina, the queen of Mahaica Creek, sharing his candid opinion on the draw and the competition, said: “The competition is going to be very tight. The draw gate too is fine. I do not see any threat. It will be a gate to wire win.”
Proceedings in the 2024 Guyana Cup will start promptly at 12:00h at the Rising Sun Turf Club on the West Coast of Berbice. This year’s event will be the biggest in the history of this event, with over 40 million dollars in cash and prizes being up for grabs.
The Jumbo Jet Thoroughbred Racing Committee has also planned to attract more families to the event with a kids’ fun park, and the biggest DJ competition will take centre stage.
