Hamark's horses earned in excess of $12m last year, winning 29 races from 126 starts, finishing ahead of Barbadian owner Elias Haloute by almost $2m. Horses such as DISTINCTLY IRISH, SEATTLE'S GIRL, MUSICAL MAESTRO, PURE MUD and the two-year-old, LADY HASTINGS, handed Hamark Farms its first ever owners' championship. DISTINCTLY IRISH was again the flagship for Howard Hamilton's Hamark Farms, winning two races from five starts and earning in excess of two million dollars. Runner-up to MIRACLE MAN in the Governor General's Stakes and Red Stripe Superstakes, DISTINCTLY IRISH won his last two races of the year, rounding off 2006 with a runaway win in the Harry Jackson Memorial on Boxing Day.

CONGRATULATIONS !

CHAMPION Trainer Wayne DaCosta registered his second straight and sixth overall Champion Trainer title in 2006. It took DaCosta 15 years to win his second title in 1999 after first doing so in 1984 when the filly, THORNBIRD, won that years Jamaica Derby. DaCosta followed up his win in 1999 by winning consecutive titles in 2002 and 2003 followed by 2005 and 2006. Last year, he saddled 67 winners from 401 starts. DaCosta's runners earned stakes money in excess of $32.7m, more than $10m clear of runner-up Anthony Nunes. His winners included the all-conquering three-year-old filly SWING BY, two-year-olds STRONG HOPE and RUN ALDEENO as well as the imported trio CLOCK WORK, LIL COUNTRY BOY and FORMALLY GOLD.

CONGRATULATIONS !

Foreign riders have always managed to endear themselves to the local racing public. Brian Harding, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, has, in a few years, amassed a legion of fans to rival most local legends. Harding won back-to-back championships at Caymanas Park in 2005 and 2006. Last year, he won his first Jamaica Derby aboard RANSOM MAN and ended the year with 97 wins. He narrowly missed the coveted mark of 100 winners, which he had achieved in 2005 when he rode 109 winners. Harding also had five memorable wins aboard MIRACLE MAN in 2006, landing the Chairman's Trophy, Prime Minister's Stakes, the Eileen Cliggott and Bob Mayall Trophies as well as the Governor General's Stakes. A seven-time champion jockey in Trinidad and Tobago, Harding's mounts earned stakes money of $36.1m in 2006.

CONGRATULATIONS !

The apprentice race for 2006 finished in a dead-heat. Carlton Malcolm (Top) finished with 23 wins to Javour Simpson's 21 but a pair of disqualifications, in races which Javour (Below) had finished second, leveled the tally between the talented youngsters. Simpson and Malcolm came out on top of one of the best ever groups to have graduated from the Jamaica Racing Commission's Jockeys Programme.

CONGRATULATIONS !

At 22 years of age, groom Keino Martin made 15 trips to the Winners' Enclosure last year, an unprecedented feat in local racing history. Horses such as multiple winner DOUBLE BOW, CORDITE and THAT'S THE LAW made Keino the leading groom for 2006.

CONGRATULATIONS !

It was a close call between the relatively young HAM Stables Limited and eight-time champion Henry W. Jaghai of Bombay Farms. HAM Stables emerged victorious by less than $800,000. HAM Stables, formed in 1992, tallied 53 wins and stakes money in excess of $20.5m ALLIEDFORCE, the Governor's Cup and St. Leger winner, was a big earner for breeder HAM Stables in 2006, winning four of 11 starts and placing in races such as the Two Thousand Guineas, Jamaica Derby, Governor General's Stakes, Red Stripe Superstakes and Harry Jackson Memorial.

CONGRATULATIONS !

ROYAL MINISTER, for the fourth straight year is again the Champion Sire after completing the hat-trick in 2005. ROYAL MINISTER, who gave the racing public the 2003 Jamaica Derby winner and Horse of the Year, A KING IS BORN, was again prolific in 2006. He sired winners such as Jamaica Two-Year-Old Stakes conqueror, RUM TALK, CLASSY BOY PETE and 1000-metre straight track record holder, MUSICAL MAESTRO. ROYAL MINISTER-sired horses won 106 races from one thousand and forty-six starts in 2006, earning stakes in excess of thirty-eight point one million dollars.

CONGRATULATIONS !

Miracle Man The towering chestnut colt went unbeaten last year, completing back-to-back victories in the Red Stripe Superstakes. MIRACLE MAN won 10 races last year including a historic victory for Jamaica in the 2006 Confraternity Classic in Puerto Rico. The Joseph Duany-owned runner carried 60.5 kilos in six of his victories and became the first horse to remain unbeaten between Superstakes wins. MIRACLE MAN earned stakes of $6.6m in 2006.

CONGRATULATIONS !