Ramsammy promises big day at Woodbine

EMILE RAMSAMMY, this country’s most successful jockey, promises a good performance when Trinidad and Tobago Day is staged at the Woodbine race track today.

Newsday caught up with Ramsammy before the start of yesterday’s racing. And to show that he was not joking, Ramsammy tasted victory right away aboard his first ride - Big Cheque, much to the delight of nationals at the Canadian track. Ramsammy is currently third behind Canadian Todd Kabel and Bajan Patrick Husbands who are locked in a battle for the jockey championship. Ramsammy is still uncertain about riding  in Trinidad for the Christmas meeting, but promises a good showing today when TT host a big day. He rides in nine races today and will do battle with Kabel and Husbands, both of whom are also booked for nine mounts each.

Everything is set for the TT Day except for one thing - the weather. Yesterday’s weather was terrible. Rains, a slight wind, and a muddy track set the stage for big dividends which resulted in highly-rated horses ridden by Kabel being beaten out of the frame.  Husbands who was one behind of Kabel, scored in the race after the  Ramsammy victory, to level with the Canadian, leaving the title in the hands of the weather.  The weather forecast for today is just as bad with the weatherman saying that high winds and rain could hit the Woodbine track.  Jim Ormiston, Chief Operating Officer, of the Woodbine Entertainment Group, is keeping his fingers crossed that racing will come off today. He pointed out that the season ends on Sunday and everyone wants a fitting climax to 165 days of racing at North America’s top track.  Sushila Lalsingh, a Trinidadian, and one of the leading organisers of today’s racing, said everything was in place for the day.

The TT national anthem will be sung at 12.30 pm to be followed by cultural performances. A number of groups will be performing calypso, parang, with tassa and Indian dance coming from the Nigel Salickram group. There are several national sponsors on the 11-race programme - BWIA, TIDCO, Carib, and Crown Point Hotel. Fliers have been distributed within the Caribbean community in Toronto and articles written in the West Indian newspapers here. The entire 11-race Woodbine programme will be simulcasted to Trinidad. A last minute meeting between Betting Levy Board (BLB) chairman Roop Chan Chadeesingh and Gerard Ferreira, president of the Arima Race Club (ARC), and the Woodbine Entertainment Group, resulted in nationals of  TT being able to see Ramsammy in action on today’s card. Also, the Caribean Champion Stakes, the feature race at Santa Rosa Park, Arima, today, will be beamed live to Woodbine at 3.35 pm (TT time). Woodbine officials and organisers are looking forward to today’s historic television link-up with a feature race from Trinidad.