The news that revered turfite Dr Rupert Indar had submitted plans to the Arima Race Club (ARC) for a Caribbean Festival of Racing wherein racehorses from Jamaica and Barbados would be invited to participate in the August 31 Independence Day, came as a surprise to many.
Disappointingly though not surprisingly, the ARC was so caught up in its internal struggles that nothing ever came of the proposals. The idea to invite top-class animals from each of these territories was certainly a positive one and one that could have re-ignited the intra-regional rivalry of days gone past.
Few would forget the visits by many of the greats of the Caribbean racing from Barbados in the 1970s and 1980s or the many visits to competing in the Trinidad Derby by the cream of the Jamaican three-year-old crops in the 2000s.
In 2011, Derek Chin masterminded a Caribbean Festival of Racing which was one of the most successful days of racing in this country’s history at Santa Rosa Park in Arima. Regrettably, infighting prevented any repeats of that day and the racing industry in this country continues to be its own worst enemy.
There are many examples of what is possible when people are united and this is becoming even clearer in the neighbouring Caribbean island of St Lucia.
This small island state with a dynamic leadership managed to attract the attention of the founder and chairman of the China Horse Racing Club (CHRC), Teo Ah King. Consequently, plans to develop a mega-resort including a race track were promulgated and is currently under development with the racetrack expected to host its first race later this year.
While the rest of the resort remains under development, it is almost a miracle that St Lucia will be able to commence horse racing on its race track this year. The track is reported to be a one mile oval with an inner turf track. It is not clear how much of a galloping track this will be or whether the focus will be on turf or dirt races.
The racehorse population is expected to be provided by Mr Ah King from the hundreds of horses owned by CHRC around the world, though it is understood that he intends to start with about 45 horses. As such, there is little doubt that they will attempt to attract racehorses from the remainder of the Caribbean as well.
The St Lucia track will have racing on both turf and dirt and this is certain to attract horses not only from Trinidad but also from Barbados and Jamaica. It will not only be the horse population from these islands that will be attracted to St Lucia but also many of the people involved – trainers, jockeys, grooms and maybe even owners.
The target population for the races at the St Lucia course is not just the local St Lucian population but also an international racing public through electronic and online access, gambling and otherwise. If this is successful, there will be significant investment opportunities into the sport in St Lucia and opportunities for neighbouring territories to also tap into that market since St Lucia may not have the critical mass in the early days.
For its part, it is widely known that the ARC under one of its previous administrations attempted to lure Mr Ah King, and he even paid a visit to this country and attended the local races, it says plenty that his visit led to nothing in terms of interest in this country local racing sector – except maybe to ultimately attract its participants.
The St Lucia government is offering many incentives to various sectors and individuals to boost their economy and all signs indicate that they are being extremely successful thus far.
Now that the leadership struggle at the ARC has been settled, it is now time for the new management to focus their efforts on how the industry can be moved forward. While the Independence opportunity has been lost, there is nothing that stops the ARC from attempting to revive the idea at a later date this year.
Republic Day would not make sense since that is already Derby Day in this country but it should be possible for us to look towards another day to attract participants from around the Caribbean.
One possibility is to piggyback on that intended launch of the St Lucia racing industry. A series involving St Lucia, Trinidad, Barbados and Jamaica could be an idea worth pursuing between the racing authorities in the four jurisdictions. Trinidad could offer to send racehorses to compete on that opening day in St Lucia in exchange for horses from that jurisdiction and the other two mentioned visiting Trinidad on an agreed date thereafter. This is an opportunity that the ARC could initiate with their counterparts in the other jurisdictions since it is certain to redound to the benefit of all.
A Caribbean Triple Crown series involving races across multiple territories will generate a lot of excitement in the various countries. Since St Lucia’s home-bred population will take some time to take root, this could be a series involving imported horses as well which could stimulate new interest in this country in acquiring US-bred animals. All of which will help the local racing industry.
The ARC should make every effort to not miss the opportunity arising out of the expected opening of the new race track in St Lucia. The time is now for us to initiate talks with them to the mutual benefit of both industries. The new ARC needs to be bold and proactive.