We Jammin too good for rivals in DaCosta 2-Y-O Stakes

WE JAMMIN, touted by The Gleaner/RJR Group’s Track and Pools race form from as early as

Wednesday morning when the publication hit the streets, yesterday won the Wayne DaCosta Jamaica Two-Year-Old Stakes at odds of 6-1 under six-time champion jockey Omar Walker.

A stubborn 3-1 winner on debut with Walker at seven furlongs two weeks prior, rallying under a hand ride against the rail to outfinish 1-5 favourite SENOR BISCOTTI, Peter-John Parsard’s runner returned treated with lasix to put another gem in sire Bern Identity’s crown.

Breaking sharply from post-position four, Walker kept WE JAMMIN third between 4-5 favourite SALUTE THE DON along the rail and FIDELITY attacking on his outside with a sharp move from stall 12.

Renowned for not hanging around too long down the backstretch on his mounts, the telltale Walker move started at the half-mile marker, urging WE JAMMIN to get rid of pesky sprinter FIDELITY while making a bid three and a half furlongs out at SALUTE THE DON with Dane Dawkins.

Ranging up on the outside heading into the home turn, WE JAMMIN eyeballed SALUTE THE DON swinging into the lane, quickening but drifting inside when Walker applied two quick bursts of the whip.

Walker’s swift correction saved the day, pulling WE JAMMIN off SALUTE THE DON while going by a furlong and a half out, but still triggered a stewards’ inquiry and jockey’s objection from Dawkins, who theatrically made a mountain of a mole hill, a complaint overruled by a six-length winning margin.

Bred at home by Vin Lumsden and owned by his son, Paul Lumsden, WE JAMMIN (Bern Identity-Jammin) clocked a modest 1:42.2, crowning himself Champion Two-Year-Old with two wins from as many starts.

Parsard said winning at seven furlongs on debut was WE JAMMIN’s tougher encounter.

“We were able to win at seven furlongs, short of work, so we were very comfortable coming into this treated with lasix,” he pointed out.

Walker had stated in a promotional video for the event that he wanted to win the Jamaica Two-Year-Old Stakes on its first running in honour of 18-time champion trainer Wayne DaCosta, who groomed him as an apprentice rider to six jockeys’ championships.

Recalling that his only win in the Jamaica Two-Year-Old Stakes was 2018 aboard DaCosta’s Run Thatcher Run, Walker was elated.

“That year, winning aboard Run Thatcher Run, won him the champion-trainer title,” Walker recounted.

Walker, a discarded champion, sounded a warning for the 2026 classic season.

“I know this horse inside out. He stays forever.”

Meanwhile, the Boxing Day Reggae 6 mandatory payout of $55,252 was overshadowed by a genie-from-a-bottle punter, who gifted himself a $5.729 million Twilight 6 Boxing Day present, spotting 36-1 outsider BIG BUZZ in the eighth and BLOOD MOON at 43-1 in the 10th, followed by WE JAMMIN at 6-1 in the nightpan.

Racing continues this afternoon, the final meet of the season, with a 10-race card scheduled to run off at 11:35 a.m.