STAT, of the Master Z’s Racing Stable, registered the first feature event win of 2026 in the feature New Year’s Day Stakes held on Sunday at the Rising Sun turf club.
The chestnut colt, with jockey Clifton Ross aboard, let loose from the three-furlong marker to run home clear of Jumbo Jet Racing Stables (JJRS) One Sharp Cookie (Jose Da Silva) and J’s Racing Stable’s Companherio Leal (Ronaldo Appadu).
The one-mile feature, sponsored by Banks Beer, saw the scratching of Guyana Cup winner and Master Z’s Dataman as well as Slingerz Olympic Kremlin, but Stat more than rose to the occasion.
Getting an even break from the blocks alongside Companherio Leal, Ross and Appadu entered the first turn trading inches for the lead, much to the delight of fans, with Da Silva and One Sharp Cookie trailing a close third.
The position swap between the front runners continued up until the horses crossed the three-furlong distance, and jockey Ross let Stat run freely.
The J’s horse had no answer for the Master Z colt; Stat a clear winner when they crossed the wire.
In the three-year-old Imported Derby over 1400m, Moonlight Dancer of the JJRS went round the outside to take victory off stablemate Rock My World and J’s Racing Stables Pharoah’s Empress.
2025 Jockey of the Year Yovin Kissoonchand showed his prowess aboard the filly to mount a successful charge over M. Semple and Appadu in that order with Adios Baby (Kevin Paul) finishing fourth.
The day started with the largest field of the event; a full house (12 entries) with 11 runners coming to line for the L Class Non Winners of 2025 over 1100m.
In the end though, Appadu opened the year with the first win, riding Republican from a tricky start past the gate first ahead of Miss Simron (Quinton Kellman), She’s A Monica (Y. Kissoonchand) and Citation (Arvid Danraj).
Appadu returned in race two to complete the double aboard the J’s Racing Stable’s Three D Movie in the K Class and Lower 1100m event, leaving Heartland (Y. Kissoonchand), Donald Trump (M. Semple) and Enemy Maker (A. Danraj) to finish in that order.
The I3 and Lower third race saw the first upset of the day with Irish Eyes and jockey Kellman ‘riding the rails’ to victory ahead of Ruff Time (Y. Kissonchand), Top Gun (Bharrat Ramnarin) and Fire Bird (Nela Mohamed).
The H2 and Lower provided another upset with Here Comes Heidi and Jockey Y. Drepaul crossing the wire first ahead of Mulan (R. Appadu), Just Exhale and Kevin Paul and Angry Bird (C. Ross).
Ross would return in the fifth race with JJRC’s Barbara to snag the F class & 4 Year Old Imported Maidens, running clear of a dead heat between Night Beacon (Q. Kellman) and Frantic (J. Da Silva) and fourth place Full Liberty (R. Appadu) in the 1100m battle.
The Three-Year-Old Guyana-Bred Derby saw Jockey Kissoonchand take the first of his two wins on the day with Summer Time, ahead of All The Time (Q. Kellman), Monica Time (M. Semple) and Torpedo Jet (C. Ros)
