Feet on Flames wins Sunset Reef Stakes & Trophy
The Barbados Advocate
Web Posted - Thu Dec 29 2005
Luther Miller's six-year-old bay horse Feet On Flames finished the year as the true champion that he is, by easily winning the Sunset Reef Stakes & Trophy for the A1 &Lower, going 1 570 metres on Boxing Day, the final day of the Barbados Turf Club's 2005 racing season.

The versatile Feet On Flames, trained by Clayton Greenidge, has shown over the 2005 racing season that he is capable of winning at any distance and on any type of ground.

On Boxing Day, he again ran his opponents into the ground with his exceptional cruising speed. Sharp Impact finished second, Kabul was third and Birdie Point fourth.

Feet On Flames raced seven times for the year and won four races, including the prestigious Sandy Lane Gold Cup and the Sunset Reef Stakes & Trophy the two biggest races during the year for the top-class horses. His earnings for the year are $184 370, and his earnings to date, after winning a career 20 races, stands at $434 255. *

* - Probably not US Dollars

Friday 07, January-2005
The long wait is over!
The 2004 Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup winner Kathir was yesterday disqualified by the Barbados Turf Club (BTC) after testing positive for a prohibitive substance, and second place horse Feet On Flames was promoted to first.

The decision was finally made at a meeting of the Prohibitive Substance Body of Stewards at the club’s Garrison headquarters. A release from BTC stated after Kathir “tested positive for a prohibited substance under the rules of Barbados Turf Club, he has been disqualified”.

That substance was identified as methylprednisolone, which falls under the category of steroids.

All of the horses move up one place. After Feet On Flames, Talkaboutlucky is second followed by Storm Hunter, Lion Country, Moonshine Hall and Sharp Impact. It would also give jockey Anderson Ward his second win in the island’s most prestigious race.

But Kathir’s owner Eugene Melnyk is not taking the club’s decision lightly, since a release from his lawyers at Inn Chambers indicate that he intends to challenge the Turf Club’s decision in court”.

When WEEKENDSPORT caught up with Feet On Flames owner Luther G. Miller III, he was very pleased with the decision.

“It feels great. I am glad that justice has been done. I have to compliment the appellate body of the BTC for having dealt with the matter – which was a ticklish matter as you would understand – so thoroughly; to have all the points aired, to give all the parties a chance to make their points; that they have come down on the ruling that they have come with.

“It is a result of the rules of racing in Barbados where foreign substances are immediately shown if positive and horses are replaced. This horse did come back with a foreign substance, therefore I think there was no other move the BTC could have made other than displace it and place it last in the race and move everybody up,” Miller said.

He said the racing fraternity had been monitoring the situation closely to see what decision would be made, and the Turf Club conducted a thorough investigation and analysis so it could be held beyond whatever decision it made, and had “come out very good for its decision”.

“I think it gives all little opportunity to object against its decision, because all matters were taken into consideration before the final decision was made.”

Miller estimated Feet On Flames had won about six or seven races and earned in excess of $140 000, and was one of those up for champion horse in terms of earnings along with Kabul.

“This morning [yesterday] he was again submitted for entry for this year’s Gold Cup, so he will try to make it two in a row.”

Miller does not know when the prestigious Gold Cup nor the $114 000 first-prize cheque will be presented to him, but he will have to wait on the BTC.