Orville Clarke, Gleaner Writer

DISPLAYING A rare turn of foot over the final 200 metres, 6-5 favourite AHWHOFAH got up in the nick of time to beat 18-1 outsider ENGLISH STORM by a head in the 37th running of the CTL Gold Cup race over 1400 metres at Caymanas Park yesterday.

Ridden as usual by returning champion jockey Omar Walker for champion trainer Wayne DaCosta, the classy three-year-old filly by Royal Minister out of Executive Profile, chalked up her fourth consecutive win and her second straight grade one success following her fighting victory in the November 8 Caribbean Sprint Championship.

According to DaCosta, AHWHOFAH has earned herself a nice, long vacation before coming back to tackle the major sprint races in 2009.

Held off the early pace in sixth position as the fleet-footed filly OUTSTANDING led at a fast clip from the imported fillies SMOOTHABILITY (15-1) and GOOD CITIZEN (8-1) in a field of nine top class horses, AHWHOFAH made good headway on the outside from the 600-metre point to straighten four lengths third (wide).

With ENGLISH STORM, who missed the break, entering the picture by getting first run on the inside rails to go by OUTSTANDING leaving the furlong pole, it appeared an upset was in the making.

Not perturbed

But Walker was not perturbed, as driving his mount ferociously under the left-hand stick, nabbed the Carl Anderson-trained ENGLISH STORM virtually on the line. MUCHO GUSTO (6-1) closed up on the inside to finish a close third while MEDICAL REPORT (22-1) was fourth.

Owned and bred by Winston Kong, AHWHOFAH has now won five races from eight starts this season and close to $4 million in stakes lifetime.

Walker said he rode the filly to instructions and it paid dividends.

"I was told by the trainer to sit just off the early pace before producing her over the last three. But she was forced to run wide of horses while making up ground coming into the home turn and in the end, we just made it," Walker said.

Meanwhile, on what turned out to be a very eventful day at the track, the stewards disqualified not one, but three winners on the 11-race programme during the first four races. These were THE GUARDIAN with Walker astride in the second race, TWENTY NINE in the third and AMERICAN DON in the fourth.

In two of those races, the horses awarded first place were ridden by visiting Panamanian jockey Dick Cardenas who, along with Devon A. Thomas and the apprentice Oral Bennett, rode two winners each.