Orville Clarke, Freelance Writer

Distinctly Irish with Winston Griffiths aboard canters to the finish line on the way to winning the Prime Minister's Stakes over 2000 metres, the feature race at Caymanas Park yesterday. Natural Desire (out of pic), the rank outsider in the field, finished second one and three-quarter lengths adrift, while the favourite, Miracle Man, finished third. -Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer

The 2004 Horse of the Year, DISTINCTLY IRISH, lowered the colours of two-time Horse of the Year, MIRACLE MAN, for the first time at Caymanas Park yesterday with an emphatic victory in the $1.1 million Prime Minister's Stakes grade one feature over 2000 metres.

Racing for the first time since his historic victory in the US$100,000 Confraternity Classic in Puerto Rico last December, MIRACLE MAN was installed a 1-2 favourite by the large holiday crowd in a bid for the 12th consecutive victory and his 11th on local soil.

But the superior race fitness of the 9-5 second favourite, DISTINCTLY IRISH, with leading all-time jockey Winston Griffiths riding for 14-time champion trainer Philip Feanny, proved decisive as MIRACLE MAN, under newly-conferred O.D. Trevor Simpson, had to settle for third in the six-horse field.

It wasthe winner's lesser fancied stable-companion PURE MUD (7-1) under Leo Miller who led from MIRACLE MAN and GOOD COMPANY (12-1) passing the stands for the first time.

As they sorted themselves out MIRACLE MAN, toting top weight of 60.5kg, moved up to join PURE MUD on the lead as they turned into the backstretch, at which stage DISTINCTLY IRISH bided his time in fourth.

The race was on in earnest leaving the half-mile with PURE MUD and MIRACLE MAN still locked in the lead, but as they turned for home with MIRACLE MAN now marginally ahead, DISTINCTLY IRISH was already looming large on the outside in third.

With MIRACLE MAN labouring in the muddy conditions, DIS-TINCTLY IRISH moved in for the kill and under a fanning right hand stick, disposed of him early in the straight to win by 1-3/4 lengths from the fast finishing NATURAL DESIRE (26-1), who would possibly have made it close had he not suffered interference between horses approaching the distance.

MIRACLE MAN faded into third place, beaten 3-3/4 lengths.

Owned by Howard Hamilton (Hamark Farms) and bred by Ken Gooden, DISTINCTLY IRISH, a 6-y-o bay gelding by Irish Quest out of the 1990 Derby winner Distinctly Native, was notching his third consecutive and his 17th win from 30 career starts, with lifetime earnings of just over $16 million.

According to Feanny, the victory was not unexpected, but ...

"I was pretty confident until the rain started for he has never shown a tendency to run on a wet surface. There was no real pace in the race so my other horse Pure Mud had to do the work.

CLASS HORSE

"Miracle Man is indeed the class horse, but coming back from a lengthy layoff and recovering from an operation as well took its toll on him", said Feanny, the season's leading trainer with just over $16 million.

Elsewhere on the 12-race programme which saw apprentice riders Javour Simpson and Andre Martin taking doubles, ALLEGRO (7-1) won the closing Independence Day Stakes Trophy over 1600m under the apprentice Oral Bennett, while PORT ROYALTY (2-1) with Martin riding for trainer Richie Todd, landed the TOBA Trophy race over 1400 metres for native bred three-year-olds. Todd saddled two winners in PORT ROYALTY and IT'S DESTINY.