DaCosta making a name for himself in Florida

When Silver Cloud crossed the finish line in the Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint during Saturday's Summit of Speed

at Calder, the

five-year-old gelding earned not only his first career stakes victory but also gave

owner/trainer Jason DaCosta his own first career stakes score in his young

training career.

"(I've had) a lot of close ones but this is the first one," DaCosta said. "A lot of seconds and thirds and fourths, but this is the first

win. It's a really good feeling. I've been trying for awhile now to win one, and

it feels good."

The 28-year-old native of Kingston, Jamaica, began his

career as a trainer in the United States in 2009, and has raced his horses on

the south Florida circuit with Calder as his home base

since the start. This past winter, he spent the season at Tampa Bay Downs.

DaCosta is on track to have his best year yet in his

training career. He already has 17 wins from 63 starts with 14 second-place and

six third-place finishes with his horses' earnings totaling $307,158 in 2013.

Last year, DaCosta won a career-high 21 races from 122 starts, with 16

second-place and 14 third-place finishes and earnings of $334,353. His

career-high earnings came in 2011 with $358,251.

DaCosta said that his goals are to "just keep on doing good

and try and acquire good horses to win big races."

He presently has 15 horses in training and owns many of the horses that he trains. A few have been in partnerships, while his father has

owned some as well.