As Derek Chin walked to the winning enclosure, there was a broad smile on his face. For a man committed to improving the lives of many, it was a smile that spoke of unbridled joy.
From his right, then his left he accepted the plaudits of racing fans, their applause, their favour and their appreciation, that he was a winner at Woodbine in Canada.
Chin is widely regarded as a shrewd businessman whose Movietowne franchise has exceeded all expectations, with four locations in this twin-island republic and another under construction in Guyana.
However, despite all that financial success, it is horse racing that drives Chin’s passion the most and his foray abroad, has again reaped success to him and enhanced the growing sport legacy of this country.
Chin opted out of local horse racing in T&T, for many reasons, not least the fact critically, that it “stopped becoming enjoyable”. Chin went from being a successful owner with horses such as Storm Street and Boogie Blues to winning his first Trinidad Derby with 87-1 outsider Bears and Bulls in 2011.
But alas all of that changed after the widely acknowledged best day of racing in this country, the Caribbean Nations Day, established by the Chin-led T&T Racing Authority (TTRA) at the time. Thereafter things went downhill, with a lot of claims and counter-claims from many involved in horse racing.
"The way everything was going, I could not see any happiness in me remaining in the sport, it was just a lot of events and situations, that I could not appreciate," Chin solemnly said.
So after many years of success in the family business which included horse racing and the introduction of Jackpot Six in the 1980’s which eventually evolved into the Lotto with Chin as a then G Tech representative, he left T&T as an owner to seek joy elsewhere.
Chin recalls, "When I helped along with Minister Selby Wilson at the time, the development of the Lotto, and the Sports Minister was Jennifer Johnson, one of the ideas going forward was that horse racing was to get a certain portion and of course sports overall of the purse. Those days to now, the income has certainly improved so that is a point of interest even now.”
Chin’s love of Canada is no coincidence having obtained a Business Administration degree from the University of Western Ontario, and then in 2004, he purchased his first horse in Canada.
Six years on from his full-time commitment to this Canadian horse racing project, Chin has thrown the same determination he has brought with every business venture in the Caribbean, behind reaping horse racing success for the region.
In August, amidst all the fanfare and bright lights, he made two visits to the winning enclosure in the space of minutes, to send a strong message to a number of his competitors in Canada, that he intends to retain the title of “Number one Caribbean owner" in Canada.
First on a cool night, the aptly named Trini Brewnette, a five-year-old made her return to the track after some changes were made. "There was an opinion, that something was wrong and after some discussion, it was felt that it could be the Lasix, which was speeding up the heart of the horse and we took her off Lasix and the rest is now history,” he said.
In fact, the Woodbine Times Racing sheet describes the victory as: "Derek Chin’s Trini Brewnette rallied last to first to capture Wednesday night $100,000 LG Algoma. Trini Brewnette who captured the South Ocean Stakes as a juvenile picked up her third career win with the stylish Algoma score but there would be no denying the powerful late stride of Trini Brewnette who surged home a 1 3/4 length winner and improved her record to 3-7-3 from 23 starts".
For Chin, it was a double on the card as earlier on the Canadian Millions night, Chin’s Blessed Two scored an impressive win in the OLG Simcoe Stakes.
Followers of Chin horses, of which there appear to be a lot in this country, would have been rewarded with a handsome payout, the horse returning at odds of 7-1, after being third in her first start.
"Yes, there were some persons, that asked me about the horses on the day and they earned themselves quite a good double on the card so that was also a good feeling," said a smiling Chin.
Some other horses in the stables of Chin in Canada include Jamming Still, Cause for Alarm and interestingly, Bossy Madam.
“Bossy Madam was named after my daughter, she is the best, I love her but she is bossy,” a politely laughing Chin told Guardian Sports media.
As Chin continued to talk of his plans to enhance his success rate in Canada with his trainer Kevin Attard, it is obvious he is still passionate about horse racing in this country.
“People may not know this, but I am still owed personally money from the Caribbean Day of racing, but I have moved on. I would like T&T racing to improve and even grow, but for that everybody needs to come together and be on the same page and work together, it is about teamwork,” declared Chin
“There is a lot to be done, and we have to ask those in authority, such as Ministers and government, do you want horse racing to survive , then give those involved in the sports a certain number of years, a specific time period to get their house in order, with ways of earning income and then wean them off the dependency from the Betting Levy Board, but for that to happen, there needs to be a lot of discussion and thoughtful planning, which I would be willing to be involved with …I love the sport," said Chin.
Questioned on a possible return to racing in this country, Chin was non-committal but said, "I have purchased a yearling in Jamaica, he is with Anthony Nunes, he is a ballistic two-year-old now, and the trainer really likes him, so let us see what happens.”
So maybe, just maybe, Derek Chin is heading home, ever so slowly.