Sport

Ramgeet lands weekend double

RAMGEET

CHESTER, West Virginia, CMC

FORMER JAMAICA champion jockey Andrew Ramgeet secured two wins on Saturday's Mountaineer Park programme to move closer to a top-10 spot in the jockeys' standings.

Ramgeet, now 13th in the standings, won the fifth and seventh races to boost his season's tally to 11 wins.

Trinidad and Tobago-born Ossie Pereira and Dana Whitney are joint leading riders with 28 wins, chased by Rex Stokes (27) and Deshawn Parker (25).

In the six-furlong fifth race worth US$8,900, Ramgeet scored a smart win aboard the four-year-old filly Big Sky Girl at odds of 6-to-1.

Win by a length

He pressed the pace as Whitney led the field aboard Yes Its You (7-2), took over at the far turn and held off Pereira's late rush aboard the 18-1 outsider Playville to win by a length with Big Sky Girl.

Ramgeet, a three-time Jamaica champion jockey, produced another fine ride to win the US$10,400 seventh race over six furlongs aboard the 6-1 chance Kettal Creek.

Kept behind early pace-setters by Ramgeet, Kettal Creek sped toward the leaders when Ramgeet roused her - five wide - entering the home stretch.

The four-year-old filly gained the advantage in deep stretch and held on to win, repelling a strong, late challenge from the 3-2 favourite Beacon of Hope, with Whitney riding.