Birthday King opens account in style

Birthday King, a two-year-old American-bred chestnut colt, made a winning debut at Caymanas Park on Saturday, August 29, 2026, taking the maiden special weight for native-bred and imported two-year-olds over three furlongs (600m). Trained by Jason DaCosta and ridden by Tevin Foster, Birthday King broke sharply and quickly assumed the lead ahead of Mandy (Abigail Able), Glama Girl (Garvin Harris), and Born Identity (Shaheem Gordon). He stayed with the field through the early part of the dash, then shifted gears inside the final furlong. The colt drew clear with authority to win by 2 ¾ lengths in a sharp time of 36.3 (23.1). It was a 1-2-3 for the DaCosta barn. Stablemates Mandy finished second and Glama Girl was third. The win was Birthday King’s first from one career start and immediately puts him in the conversation for the two-year-old races for foreigners later in the season. DaCosta, the reigning champion trainer, has now won the first two juvenile races for the season after his Boss over Boss won the Cradle Stakes recently. — Ruddy Allen