Kelvin 'N'
"A great rider and a gentleman", was how former champion jockey and trainer Edmund De Freitas described his friend and foe on the track, Venice "Pappy" Richards told Guardian Media Sports, yesterday.
De Freitas, who was the inducted into the T&T racing "Hall of Fame" recently, expressed his sorrow at the passing of his long-time friend yesterday, saying, "Venice Richards was a rider of the highest order, he was one of the best that we have had seen in the Caribbean. He was a very confident rider and a gentleman of the highest order.
"We perhaps hold the biggest memory at the Garrison Savannah in Barbados in 1973 when we battled to line in the Cave Sheppard Stakes, which was the symbol of sprinting supremacy in Barbados. I can remember that race just like it was yesterday. I was riding a little horse called Reres Lass and Venice was aboard the champion of the South Caribbean at that time, Quain, which was trained by Eric "Colt" Durant.
"At that time inter-island rivalry was a big thing and to have Quain at the Garrison Savannah was indeed a major thing. That was the greatest race that we have ever ridden together as we locked together from the four-furlong pole to the finish line, the horses were inseparable.
"The judges deliberated for more than 15 minutes before the result was made known. When the result was made public and the announcement made that Reres Lass had defeated Quain the 5,000 odds fans at the Garrison Savannah stormed the track. We could not even get our horses to the paddock and the winner's enclosure so packed was the track."
However, Richards got his revenge on the Barbadian one year later when Kingly Street, the Barbados champion, came to Trinidad to contest the Stewards Cup, the emblem of 'Sprinting Supremacy' of the Caribbean and the David Seales-owned colt with Chally Jones astride had to settle for second behind Quain.
Richards had the last laugh but on this occasion, De Freitas was not the jockey.
"We have talked about this race on many occasions," said De Freitas, who was one of the top jockeys with whom Richards had to battle in the 60s and 70s.
The other top riders in the profession at that time included Challenor Jones, Dalton Lutchman, Dondee Baboolal, Nolan Hajal and Winston Walton.
Champion trainer John O'Brien stated that Richards was a quiet unassuming gentleman, who was a tremendous jockey.
The local horse racing fraternity has continued to show its emotion at the passing of the former champion jockey of the Southern Caribbean, in a glittering career in the "Sport of Kings" which spanned some 55 years of continuous involvement.
No detail as to the funeral of the legendary Barbadian born jockey has been made.