Republic Day and Derby Day are now synonymous and those who were at Santa Rosa Park on September 24 witnessed a number of spectacular performances.
Pride of place always goes with the animal and so it was only fitting that the best horse in the country Bigman In Town continued to stamp his authority on the local racing scene while re-writing the history books.
The Jamaican bred colt has now been unbeaten for over one year and nine consecutive races.
Although he treated his field with disdain in the Diamond Stakes, there was a highly credible performance from the runner up, Control Unit trained by Glenn Mendez and owned by the Ahamad brothers (SIR).
This colt has been very consistent among the imported three-year-old class but his performance in finishing a respectable second to the Bigman must surely be his best performance in this country to date.
He is in the right hands to progress and improve again as a four-year-old, so he will be a potent challenger for the Bigman in the sprints up to 1,350 metres in the future.
The other stand out performance was undoubtedly the Derby winner himself, War Maker. Owned, like the Bigman, by Baskaran Bassawh, this colt defied racing history and pundits by scoring impressively by six lengths at the good odds of 6/1. The build up to the Derby for this colt was anything but smooth with the colt finishing distressed after his final Derby gallop.
That he was then able to quicken twice during the race itself in spite of obviously breaking down during its running must be a testament to his trainer, John O'Brien and rider.
He was notably lame on his return to the parade ring and had to be dismounted by his rider, the very shrewd and sometimes versatile Nobel Abrego, and walked into the winners' enclosure.
Although the time was slow, confirming it was not a vintage renewal, the race still was full of drama.
The other remarkable run of the race came from the maiden winner, Morning Calm.
His connections were quietly confident that his stamina would bring him into the race in the closing stages but not even they could have anticipated this performance after he veered dramatically to his left coming out of the starting stalls forfeiting more distance than he was eventually beaten by.
If this colt can reproduce this form, he could yet prove to be the best staying three-year-old in the country. This result would have placed a big smile on the face of respected breeder Charles James.
The third feature of the day, the Derek Cozier Classic, was also won in impressive style by the improving Swept Away owned by Russel Ramsammy. This Glenn Mendez trained colt dismantled his field when running away to an easy four-length victory.
A lot of the early speed in the race was compromised by the early antics of the outsider Princess Britney at the off but this colt could do no more than win easily.
He seems the best of the three-year-old creole sprinters at present though connections of Bergeron Boy and Star Sapphire will be hoping that their three-year-olds can rebound from poor Derby performances when dropped back in distance.
While the animals dominated, the homo sapien specie did not cover itself with glory on the day. In particular, the turnout for a Derby day was not consistent with what we would have come to expect in prior years.
The races were sponsored by the National Gas Company (NGC), an organisation that we know would have been going through a political transition with a new board appointed a few days prior to the Derby. It is unclear also whether the sport will continue to benefit from their sponsorship but we can only hope that this continues.
It could be that the invited guests were in a bit of limbo given the change in leadership which could have contributed to the low turnout.
While this would explain the low turnout in the Level 2 of the Grand Stand, there was also a noticeable reduction in the attendance by the general public. It would be interesting to see what the overall betting handle was on the day and how it compared to previous Derby days.
The other human disappointments were the stewards who presided over racing on that day.
A review of the stewards' notes in the racing programme for the subsequent day's racing revealed that there were a number of objections and enquiries during the course of the day, very few of which were advised to the betting public.
In an information age, it is baffling that the betting public can only find out about the day's incidents when the following day's racing programme is published.
These notes need to be made available to the betting public ahead of such publications and it can surely not be too difficult for the notes to be posted online at the ARC website.
Of particular concern were the incidents that occurred at the start of the Derek Cozier Classic in which the four horses drawn towards the inside seemed to have had their chances totally wiped out at a very early stage.
While the #1 horse, Princess Britney was the clear instigator, #3 and #4, Hail the Chief and Turn Me Loose (the favourite) also seemed to have veered (to their left) leaving the stalls.
The meat in the sandwich, #2 Faith, lost all chance at that point being almost brought down on two occasions. None of this information was shared with punters at the track on the day. Surely better communication can be expected or is that too much to ask?
Racing remains at a crossroads but the news that moves are afoot to take the sport from the Ministry of Trade to the Ministry of Finance could be good news. Through the Betting Levy Board, most of the revenue from the gaming industry should fall under the purview of that body.
The new legislation that was tabled by the previous government should be reviewed and amended where necessary but there is a need for the new legislation in this country. We look forward to this development with interest and some optimism.