Stunning evening for Lakeland Farms

LAKELAND FARMS closed yesterday’s nine-race card with a stinging double, IMMEASURABLE JOY’s storming run at odds of 6-1 with Tevin Foster and CHAMPION BUBBLER’s stunning reversal of form, landing the five-furlong straight Mabrouk Sprint as a 10-1 outsider with claiming rider Tajay Suckoo.

Dull in two races since losing at long odds of 70-1 to American FEARLESS FORCE at six furlongs on Christmas Eve, IMMEASURABLE JOY popped up on the first day of Spring with a thunderous rail run to overhaul American TITAN TEMPO, who fought bravely with Ian Spence to repel fellow American SHOOTING STAR and QUEEN OF SOUL throughout the stretch run.

Journeyman Spence must have started prepping for the cameras inside the winners’ enclosure after outbattling two of the country’s hottest young jocks, either of whom could have been his grandson, champion rider Raddesh Roman astride SHOOTING STAR and 2023 title-holder, Reyan Lewis, aboard QUEEN OF SOUL.

However, another young Turk, Foster, who lost last year’s title by one winner to Roman, aboard Anthony Nunes’ IMMEASURABLE JOY, an in-utero four-year-old filly, produced a devastating last half-furlong rail run to catch TITAN TEMPO a few hops from the wire, winning the seven-furlong event by a half-length in 1:26.1, capitalising on the torrid pace of 24.0, 47.3 and 1:13.4 blazed by the pace-setters.

Lakeland’s colours also adorned the winners’ enclosure in the feature, Spencer Chung’s CHAMPION BUBBLER emerging from a near one-year hibernation at the exact trip of five furlongs straight.

Second at the trip to course-specialist VOLATILITY on March 24 last year, CHAMPION BUBBLER, normally slow into stride, no matter the distance, was surprisingly close to the pace coming across the dummy rail.

Entering the main track hot on the heels of a battling gang including stablemate and 8-5 favourite COMMANDER Z, SUGAR DADDY, MUDSHAFT, and MRS LYNDHURST, CHAMPION BUBBLER accelerated rapidly from behind horses approaching the two-furlong point and was in charge a furlong out, sprinting away from the pack for a two-and-three-quarter length upset victory in 1:00.0.

Roman rode three winners to force a three-way tie on 14 wins at the top of the jockeys’ standings with down-for-the-day Shane Ellis and Robert Halledeen, who was an early scratch from his remaining mounts after partnering losing favourite WATERMAN JOHN in the opening event.

Roman enjoyed his second armchair ride astride Philip Feanny’s impressive American, SUPERNATURAL POWER, who clocked 58.1 at five furlongs straight for consecutive romps after clocking 1:11.3 at six furlongs on debut as a two-year-old late December.

The champion rider immediately returned to the winners’ enclosure in the fourth aboard SIR JOHN at a king’s ransom of 3-1, beating GREEN GOLD RUSH, who had won the previous duel a month ago when Halledeen lost his whip at the three-furlong point.

Roman closed his three-timer at five furlongs round astride $700,000 claimer GENERATIONAL, whose winner-producing dam, Electrifying, also foaled the winner of the sixth, IRISH WISH, the first of two winners for Nunes.

Racing continues on Ash Wednesday with a nine-race card, featuring a Reggae 6 mandatory payout, which will open at $14.2 million.