By Ainsley Walters, Freelance Writer

CHAMPION owner Howard Hamilton has touted his runners, DISTINCTLY IRISH and MUSICAL MAESTRO, to win the two biggest races on this Saturday's MegaFone Superstakes Day at Caymanas Park.

Hamilton's maroon and gold silks, the colours of his alma mater, Wolmer's Boys' School, were made famous at Caymanas Park through the exploits of 2003 Derby winner A KING IS BORN, who went on to win the 2005 Caribbean Sprint on Superstakes Day.

DISTINCTLY IRISH, trained by Philip Feanny, is joint favourite along with Allan 'Billy' Williams-trained MIRACLE MAN in the MegaFone Superstakes, whereas MUSICAL MAESTRO is the hot choice for the Sprint.

A muscular five-year-old gelding, trained by Dwight Chen, MUSICAL MAESTRO recently dethroned the American CLOCK WORK as the fastest horse in the land. However, he is not the typical sprinter who shows blinding speed but instead stalks rivals before pouncing at the top of the lane.

Partnered by five-time champion jockey Trevor Simpson in most of his races, MUSICAL MAESTRO has won 13 of his 33 starts, finishing second on 12 occasions. He first beat CLOCK WORK in July, powering past the American to land the 1100-metre She's On Wheels Trophy. He officially crowned himself sprint king in last month's None Such Sprint, beating CLOCK WORK into fourth place at 1200 metres.

Having beaten his main rivals, LA REINA, NASATOL and RAMPAGE in the None Such, MUSICAL MAESTRO's only threat could be Billy Williams' unbeaten filly, OUTSTANDING, who recently won her fifth straight, beating Overnight Allowance horses.

Whereas Hamilton is pretty confident of his charge's chances as he hunts a hat-trick of wins in the Caribbean Sprint, Chen was more guarded.

"At the handicaps, everybody is saying it will be his easiest race for the year but the easiest one is always the hardest one," he said.

"Everybody will be looking for him now," he added.

A big field of 16 runners has been nominated for the 1200-metre MegaFone Caribbean Sprint, but Hamilton's runner has been in sparkling form and will be tough to beat.