Barbadian legend and multiple Canadian champion jockey PATRICK HUSBANDS has been named to ride former Woodbine runner SO SUAVE (IRE) in the January 28 Coolmore “Home of Champions” Stakes (G1) at Garrison Savannah racecourse in Bridgetown, Barbados. Husbands, who winters in his native Barbados, has not ridden a race at his home track since 2018.
The $50,000 Coolmore, at 1,800 metres (just over 1 1/16 miles) is the local prep for the March 4 Sandy Lane Gold Cup, the biggest race in the Caribbean, which has not been run since 2020.
This year’s Gold Cup has attracted plenty of buzz already with numerous invaders heading to Barbados from North America. So Suave, owned by Nalicia Cozier and trained by her husband Jean Marc Cozier, was claimed from his last race, a win at Woodbine on Nov. 6 on the Tapeta. He was claimed from $25,000 by Louis C Cavalaris and trainer Ted Holder and now is in the stable of the Coziers. So Suave won three of his last four races at Woodbine for trainer Martin Drexler and one of those came on the grass. The 6-year-old by Make Believe (GB) has won 6 of 16 races and is a horse who likes to race close to the pace.