Red Hill, Francesca topweights for ‘Friday Lime’

The jockeys will be batting away at their charges to get the best runs, while cricketers from Test playing nations Australia and West Indies will be  rallying them on from the stands on Friday.

This  party-like atmosphere takes place on Friday when the Arima Race Club host their “Friday Evening Lime’ at Santa Rosa Park, Arima. Ex-West Indies cricketing greats Sir Vivian Richards and Ambassador Michael Holding are among the invited guests. This ARC seven-race programme is expected to see the West Indies and Australia teams in attendance, as they will be in Trinidad over the weekend for the fourth and fifth one-day internationals in their seven part series at the Queen’s Park Oval on Saturday and Sunday. All races will be named after the cricketers of both teams with the feature and co-feature carrying the names of the captains.

The Brian Lara Starter Allowance which will hold spotlight, will be run over   1100 metres on the turf course, and the Ricky Ponting Restricted Handicap is a 1250 metres sprint on the main track. An autograph session will be held in the winners’ enclosure for fans to get an opportunity to meet and greet their heroes. Also holding invitations to attend are the national men and women hockey teams, Joe Public footballers and the Under-19 national cricket team. The “Lime” will carry a true Trini flavour with local delicacies such as bake and shark, souse, doubles and corn soup on the menu. And there will be misic supplied by DJ Cin between races, to set the mood with a mix of top calypsos and soca.

The Carib Girls will also help to make the day exciting, and there will be several Carib bars strategically placed at the track to accommodate the Limers. There will also be several giveaways through the Lucky Losers draw, with  prizes including Newsday T-shirts,  autographed bats, umbrellas, and Carib hampers. Two races on the card will be handicaps, a Restricted 1250 metres contest for West-Indian bred three-year-old winners and Imported three-year-olds and over, and a 1100 metres dash for West Indian-bred three-year-olds and over winners. Red Hill and Francesca have been allotted the top weight of 56.5 kilos in both sprints. In the Restricted event, Red Hill has been asked to hand out 1.5 kilos to nearest rival Isle Be True and as much as 12 kilos to Indian Decision. Francesca will give away between two kilos to Mir On Fire and 12 to bottom weighted Sweet Laura Lee.

Following are the entries and their weights:
RACE 6: RESTRICTED HANDICAP - W.I BRED 3 Y.O WINNERS AND IMPORTED 3 Y.O & OVER - 1250 METRES.
1. RED HILL - 56.5, 2. ISLE BE TRUE - 55, 3. BON VOYAGE - 51, 4. MANDELA - 51, 5. LOVELY HONOREE - 50.5, 6. NANDO - 48, 7. SQUEEZED MOMENT - 46.5, 8. RUBY RICH - 45.5, 9. INDIAN DECISION - 44.5.

RACE 7: W.I BRED 3 Y.O WINNERS AND W.I BRED 4 Y.O & OVER NON-WINNERS OF THREE RACES IN CAREER - 1100 METRES.

1. FRANCESCA - 56.5, 2. MIR ON FIRE - 54.5, 3. SUNNY - 53.5, 4. TIME TO FLY - 52.5, 5. BALLYBUNION - 52.5, 6. WHAT LEFT - 50, 7. RICHIE RICH - 50, 8. HYARIMA - 49, 9. LOUD MUSIC - 49, 10. SWEET LAURA LEE - 46.5