The 40th Sandy Lane Gold Cup (G1) at the Garrison Savannah racecourse near Bridgetown, Barbados will be run on March 4 and this week, multiple Canadian champion rider PATRICK HUSBANDS elected to pick up the mount on Ken Ramsey’s TALLAHATCHIEBRIDGE for the $200,000 (BAR, about $132,000 Canadian) turf race.
Husbands, who is from Barbados and recently rode Woodbine invader So Suave (Ire) to an easy win in the Coolmore ‘Home of Champions’ Stakes at the Garrison, the local prep for the Gold Cup. So Suave, a six-year-old horse by Make Believe (GB), is owned by Nalicia Cozier and trained by Jean-Marc Cozier. Antonio Bishop will ride So Suave in the Gold Cup.
At the final subscription for the Gold Cup, which is run at 8.95 furlongs, owner Ken Ramsey, a three-time winner of the famous Caribbean race, nominated two horses, Tallahatchiebridge and recent claim American Diamond. Husbands, who rode Ramsey’s Major Marvel to victory in the 2014 Gold Cup, has chosen the former. Both horses are trained by Saffie Joseph, Jr., a leading trainer in Florida who is from Barbados.
