Mrs. Gay Smith's homebred 6-year-old gelding Zoom was placed first in the March 5 Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup in Bridgetown, Barbados, after fellow local Show Me the Money was disqualified after finishing first.
In a rarity for the 30-year-old event, the biggest race in the Caribbean, the Barbados-based Show Me the Money was demoted after being found guilty of interference to another local, Apostle, in the early stretch of the 'about' 1 1/8 mile turf event.
Bird Watch and Charge it filled in the second and third spots in Garrison Savannah's premier race.
The victory by Zoom, trained by Eddie Walcott Jr., re-claimed possession of the Gold Cup by a Barbados-based horse, one year after Euegene Melnyk's Canadian-bred Sterwinswon the race over American runner Bribon.
Melnyk had an entrant in this year's Gold Cup in Safety Zone, who won the Labeeb Stakes last year at Woodbine, one race after being claimed by Melnyk and trainer Mark Casse for $40,000. The 7-year-old Safety Zone, making his third start of 2011, raced evenly on his way to a mid-pack placing under jockey Patrick Husbands.
American invader Grand Cash, trained by Wesley Ward, was an also ran.
The Gold Cup, at run over “good-to-firm” turf, was run under blazing sunny skies, with light winds and in front of a raucous crowd of locals and thousands of vacationers that included a 150-strong contingent that were guests of Melnyk.
The day belonged to Barbados-based horses, however, and Zoom, a son of Super Jeblar--Flying Dove, by Boomerang, was making his 30th start for Smith, already a two-time Gold Cup winner. Zoom is now a six-time winner of more than $210,000 (Barbados Funds; approximately $105,000). It was a good day for the Barbadian horses as Bipin, an American-bred son of Max's Pal won the Sandy Lane Spa Sprint over Grand Times, also trained by Ward.