One of the questions heading into the third running of the Mouttet Mile at Caymanas Park in Kingston, Jamaica, Dec. 7, was whether or not anyone would stop trainer Rohan Crichton from making it two in a row.
For a while, it seemed the answer would be no with favored Legacy Isle taking the lead just past the half-mile mark. But the Kentucky-bred, Jamaica-raced Funcaandun had more fight late, rallying over the final quarter-mile to win.
The Mouttet Mile's $250,000 purse is the richest in the English-speaking Caribbean.
"It's a wonderful day; we need a few more days like this," said winning jockey Robert Halledeen.
Pack Plays, one of 11 American-breds in the field, jumped out to an early lead and posted early fractions of :23.58 and :46.81 while trying to keep Legacy Isle at bay. He fell back to fourth as Legacy Isle's stablemate Commandant and Funcaandun moved up as they approached the stretch.
Legacy Isle opened a two-length lead and was primed to pull away heading for home. The four leaders each took a lane with Legacy Isle riding along the rail. Funcaandun received his orders to go from Halledeen and charged forward from the two path.
"When (Legacy Isle's jockey Emisael Jaramillo) saw me at the furlong pole, he started to drift out on me, so I thought I would get aggressive with the stick in the left and let my horse know to go get him, and he did that," said Halledeen. "He's a wonderful horse."
Legacy Isle, who posted fractional times of 1:12.34 and 1:25.18, now drifted slightly away from the rail with Funcaandun bearing down on his outside. Twenty-five yards from the end, the 14-1 underdog took the lead and Halledeen stood up and looked back as they crossed the wire in 1:38.94.
Commandant finished third.
"I was just hopeful. I saw him last time (in the Jamaica Cup) grinding away, grinding away and I was just hoping that he would get up in time and he did," said trainer Jason DaCosta.
The race provided DaCosta with a happy ending to his year. In March, he was suspended 15 days after his trainee, Poker Partner, tested positive for gabapentin in a July 2023 postrace test at Presque Isle Downs.
"It's a lot of hard work," he said. "I know racing has a lot of ups and downs; for every up there are three or four downs. This is special."
Funcaandun is by Klimt, winner of the 2016 Del Mar Futurity (G1), and was bred by Bill and Phyllis Adair, and Connie Brown. He is owned by Carlton Watson.
The colt is 8-2-1 from 11 starts, all at Caymanas Park.
The race was broadcast in the United States on Fox Sports in conjunction with the New York Racing Association. In order to continue the growth of the Mouttet Mile, NYRA officials are discussing setting up a win-and-in scenario for the race with a contest on the New York circuit.
"It might be like a New York-bred kind of thing," said NYRA president and CEO Dave O'Rourke. "It kind of fits the class horse. ... We're just going to keep playing with ideas, and some will work, some won't, but this is fun. They're building something from the ground up here, and you can kind of see what they're doing and coming here and experiencing it."
Editor's Note: BloodHorse's coverage of the Mouttet Mile is funded with travel provided by the Jamaican Tourist Board.
