PATTA PATTA held off a late surge from Making Headlines to take Saturday’s feature race, on Race Day 17 of the Arima Race Club (ARC) 2022 season.

The four-year-old filly claimed her third win on the trot at the Santa Rosa Park, Arima.

The feature race had nine entrants vying for the purse of $17,710.

Super Bird, one of four horses trained by John O’Brien in this 1,350-metre race, took an early lead, after the first turn, with the experienced General JN and Finishing Touch in hot pursuit.

Finishing Touch, trained by Lester Alexis and ridden by Kiran Razack, was vying for a fourth straight win and moved to the front of the pack on the final turn, followed by Super Bird (ridden by Nela Mohammed) and Patta Patta (with Andrew Poon aboard).

It was a neck-and-neck battle between the three, as they headed for home, but Patta Patta, trained by Michael Lutchman, turned on the heat as Super Bird and Finishing Touch started to lose their steam.

Making Headlines, with Nobel Abrego aboard, picked up the pace on the final 100 metres but Patta Patta held firm to claim victory in a time of one minute 23.2 seconds. Making Headlines was second, followed by Finishing Touch and Super Bird.

On Saturday, no rider won more than one race, but Lutchman was the day’s top trainer with four victories.

Race Day 18 is set for December 3.