This year's edition of the Stewards Cup, a traditional highlight of the Christmas racing meeting will be staged on Saturday.
Over the years, the prominence of the event on the racing calendar has diminished but this edition still promises to be an exciting event as we have some of the past stars of local racing matching strides with a number of up and coming pretenders.
Eleven horses were entered at the final nomination stage and with most of them expected to take their chances, the race should provide a lot of excitement to local racing fans.
Heading the list are four of the top five finishers last year. Thisonesforron, who won last year’s Stewards Cup by a short head, returns to defend his crown along with third-place finisher Whisper Light (beaten half a length), Onefortheroad who was fourth (beaten 3/4 length) and fifth place finisher (beaten favourite) Control Unit.
Thisonesforron and Whisper Light returned from lengthy layoffs to be first and second in their prep race for the Stewards Cup on November 2, when they had two of their likely rivals Pauseforacoors and Rocket Wheels behind them in third and fourth.
That event was over 1,300 metres and while the 100m shorter distance is likely to favour those two fillies, the fact that the two highest-rated horses in the race were returning from absences should ensure that they again have the measure of both fillies. The swing in the weights is also likely to favour the older horses.
The other star in the race is Control Unit, who himself will be returning from a lengthy lay-off in the Cup itself. This should not be a major detriment to his chances since his astute trainer is adept at preparing horses for major events off lengthy layoffs. Of greater concern would be whether he is still the force of old, has not shown his best form for over 18 months now.
The young pretender in the race is Princess Suri who won her last start over extended distances but has been caught out in the shorter distances by Pauseforacoors. She will benefit from a strong early pace which can bring her strong stamina into play in the closing stages.
The remaining contenders for the race are Magical Victory, Nuclear Power, Stockyard and Smoknlikearockstar. Of these, only Stockyard could be seriously considered if he were to return to the level of form that he showed last year.
He has, however, been bitterly disappointing this year on both surfaces for his shrewd connections and they must be hoping that he rekindles his fire somewhere between his last abysmal start and this one. If he does, he will be dangerous but no one will know whether he will until the race itself.
On all shown form to date, the race would appear to lie between Thisonesforron, Whisper Light, Pauseforacoors and Princess Suri. Of the quartet, Thisonesforron has shown the best combination of tactical speed and finishing kick which, if he reproduces it on the day, will make him the most likely winner.
The other three require things to go exactly their way for their best to be displayed and if it does, they could either withstand the challenge of Ron (in the case of Whisper and Pause) or run him down (in the case of Suri). The many punting angles of the event and the many different scenarios which can play themselves out will make this year’s edition a compelling event for all local racing enthusiasts.
Unfortunately, the remainder of the card is somewhat dismal with only the 1,300m event for locally bred two-year-olds likely to add any further spice to the day.
This once again calls into question the framing and staging of races by the local management committee. For reasons only best understood by them, the ARC choose to frame an 80-60 sprint over 1,100m for last Saturday and then cancelled the event when only six horses were entered. Interestingly, there was a 40-25 event on that day, which was not cancelled even though that race also had six horses entered.
Besides the poor framing choice, this decision on the part of the ARC management was a clear signal to owners that it was much better to invest in horses in the lower bracket (40-25) than in the higher bracket (80-60).
With that being the case, it cannot be overly surprising that few new owners are entering the sport at the higher levels and many of the traditional investors in better quality racing stock are keeping their powder dry.
The impending opening of the new racing plant in St Lucia next year will give Trinidad owner’s alternative options and so the ARC will have to ensure that they can be competitive going forward.
At the moment, it would appear to most that horseracing is being allowed to just travel at one speed, with no clear pathway or vision ahead, week in, week out, we are listening to the same problems. The absence of a professional general manager is but a signal of the lack of planning.
However, that notwithstanding, we can expect the diehards at horseracing on Saturday and maybe just a few more, who actually know about the Stewards Cup.