Local racing with Bajan flavour

SANTA ROSA PARK, Arima will take on a distinctly Bajan look tomorrow with the staging of Barbados Day at the races. Tomorrow’s ten-race programme is being hosted by the Barbados Tourism Authority, with all races named after hotels and businesses from the “Land of the Flying Fish.” In making this announcement of sponsorship, vice-president of the Barbados Tourism Authority Steve Edwards, explained that the decision was borne out of the keen rivalry between the two islands in the sport of  horseracing. Timing of the sponsorship coincides with the promotion of the Barbados Sandy Lane Gold Cup to be run off  at the Garrison Savannah, Bridgetown, on March 6.

Only yesterday, “Horse of the Year” Sugar Mike was among four Trinidad-owned horses which left Piarco for Barbados to throw down a challenge in the feature Gold Cup on one of the biggest days of racing in the Caribbean. Turfites attending tomorrow’s racing could lose their wagers at the windows but still end up leaving the track winners, as the BTA are giving away trips to Barbados to patrons and media. Several Barbadian companies are also contributing toward making the day a success, and will be presenting hampers to grooms of the “best turned out” horse in each race tomorrow, while the trainer, jockey and owner of the horse winning the feature will also be in line for prizes.