Confidently ridden by leading jockey Dane Nelson, Above and Beyond slammed the 14-horse field by 6-1/2 lengths for Nunes’s 22nd Classic triumph in a fast one minute 38.80 seconds in the JA$2.8 Million (US$19.600) one-mile run for owners Rawdon Persad, Vickram Oditt & Rajendra Poonai.
Trainer Gary Subratie’s 5-2 second favourite ‘Another Affair’ was second and denied Nunes the top-three sweep as his long shots Sencity (26-1) and Glock (41-1) snatched third and fourth positions respectively.
It was Nunes’s fourth Fillies Guineas victory after ‘Latonia’ in 2004, ‘Selectabook’ (2013) and ‘I Am Di One’ last year. Nunes has now won five of the last six Classics at Caymanas Park, including his 2019 Triple Crown run with the colt ‘Supreme Soul’.
Breaking smartly from the 14-box, Above and Beyond raced very relaxed with the pacesetters down the backstretch and looked the winner from mid-race.
The chestnut filly, by ‘Blue Pepsi Lodge’ out of ‘Rumble’, cruised to the lead and when she quickened away from the busy Robert Halledeen aboard the chasing Another Affair leaving the half-mile, the picture of her motionless jockey told the story of race control.
Above and Beyond entered the homestretch with a two-length lead and steadily increased her advantage en route to her third win in seven career starts for groom Steven Smith.
The result also closed an afternoon triple for three-time champion jockey Nelson, who had piloted third race winner Generational and KJ Express to victory in the seventh.
Nelson had two previous Fillies Guineas wins with ‘Al Fouzia’ in 2000 and ‘Nuclear Affair’ in 2016 and engaged Above and Beyond in speedy split-times of 23.3, 45.3 and 1:10.2. The big filly still looked strong at the end under Nelson, who had been aboard for her two previous wins.
“Dane Nelson knows her inside out,” Nunes said about the race strategy.
Coming off her fourth place finish behind 2000 Guineas contender Nipster in her July 5 “prep” event, Nunes revealed he stepped up her training programme for the Classic season opener.
“We made sure to bring her over as fit as we could make her and as happy and as healthy as she could be and she did the rest,” said Nunes, who scored four wins on Saturday’s 11-race card. His other winners were ‘Generational’ in the third race, ‘Supreme Soul’ in the fifth and ‘KJ Express’ in the seventh.
Above and Beyond, the 1-2 favourite, only surged to the front in the final strides of the JA$2.5 Million (US$16,800) Classic and won by a half-length over the 6-1 bet Another Affair while becoming the first horse in 11 years to complete the Fillies Guineas and Oaks double.
The chestnut filly, by Blue Pepsi Lodge out of Rumble, also logged the fastest Oaks winning time for the 10-furlong trip in almost 30 years, stopping the clock at two minutes 06.80 seconds for champion trainer Anthony Nunes. “What a horse race,” Nunes said moments after securing his fourth Oaks triumph.
“Another Affair ran brilliantly. She bounced out of that gate from early and Dane (Nelson) had no choice but to turn into a 10-furlong sprint. Dane did a fantastic job as he always does,” added Nunes, celebrating his 23rd Classic success.
Beaten 6-1/4 lengths into second spot by Above and Beyond in the Guineas a month ago, Another Affair was sent to lead by jockey Robert Halledeen from post-position one, while Above and Beyond from the nine-box approached the first turn in close touch with the trio of Shepanza (3-1) and the outsiders Adore Brilliance (34-1) and Basilicus (60-1) in a cluster two lengths behind.
Another Affair still led mid-race with Above and Beyond at her girth, with Shepanza 2-1/2 lengths further back struggling to keep pace as Nunes’s 16-1 bet Glock quickened in fourth to chase the leaders.
Another Affair accelerated approaching the three-furlong marker and in a flash threateningly kicked two lengths clear of Above and Beyond as Nelson urged the big filly to close the gap.
Posting solid splits of 24.2, 49.1 and 1:12.3 for six furlongs before breezing the mile split in 1:38.4, Another Affair was still running stoutly into the homestretch and appeared very unwilling to relinquish her lead to the Guineas champion.
Nelson, who won four races on Saturday’s card, had already gone for the whip right-handed coming off the final bend but was only closing mildly and didn’t appear to be closing fast enough either when he changed his hold and switched to left-hand whipping heading into the last furlong.
Another Affair began her surrender deep inside the last furlong as the classy Above and Beyond – under Nelson’s vigorous handling -- incrementally wore her down and became the first filly since Saint Cecelia in 2009 to land both the 1000 Guineas and the Oaks.
The win was Above and Beyond’s fourth in eight career starts for owners Rawdon Persad, Vickram Oditt & Rajendra Poonai and gave the 36-year-old Nelson his second Oaks triumph. Her win was the fastest in the Oaks since Godwin Bucknor’s Poorlittlerichgirl won the 1991 edition in the same time.
Nunes, who landed a triple on the 10-race card, also won the co-feature JA$1.5 Million (US$10,000) Bonnie Blue Flag Trophy race with his four-year-old gelding Toona Ciliata snapping the outstanding three-year-old colt Wow Wow’s 11-race winning streak.
The 2-1 bet Toona Ciliata, ridden by Omar Walker, sped to a dominant five-length victory to be undefeated in three starts this year, posting a smart 1:53.60 for nine furlongs and 25 yards. Wow Wow, the 1-2 favourite, finished second.
The 4-5 favourite Miniature Man was a disappointing sixth as Calculus rebounded from a seventh-place finish in the early June 2000 Guineas to land the Betmakers JA$4.5 Million (US$30,126) St Leger by 6-3/4 lengths. He scored at 7-1 odds and handed Trinidadian owner Chevan Maharaj his second St Leger win at Caymanas Park in three years.
As Ellis surged to his fifth St Leger success and trainer Subratie his second in a row, the 3-2 second favourite Further and Beyond was second and the Fillies Guineas winner She’s a Wonder (9-2) third a further length and a quarter behind.
“Number five is very very sweet,” said Ellis after triumphantly reuniting with Maharaj, whose colt Supreme Soul had given the ex-champion jockey his first Triple Crown victory in 2019.
It was Ellis’s first race aboard Calculus as the colt, bred by Sensational Slam out of the Bernardini mare Trinket, recorded his third win from eight lifetime starts.
Out of the starting gates, the 2000 Guineas champion Miniature Man cruised out of the three-box to lead and went to the mile pole in front, chased by the 93-1 outsider Simba the Lion and last year’s champion two-year-old Further and Beyond.
Ellis made a sharp move forward leaving the six-furlong marker and in a flash had surged from seventh to fourth on the heels of the front running trio.
Calculus and Further and Beyond quickened away from a fading Miniature Man for a duel leaving the half-mile while She’s a Wonder accelerated into a challenging third position coming off the final bend.
Ellis was off the rail as he engaged reigning co-champion jockey Dane Nelson aboard Further and Beyond on his outside while She’s a Wonder darted to the rail for her homestretch challenge.
The battle was brief as Calculus responded to a few left-handed cracks of the whip and pulled clear for the big win that Ellis thinks makes him favourite for the August 6 Jamaica Derby.
“He’ll be the one to beat for sure,” said Ellis, who already has five Derby wins.
Calculus clocked two minutes 08 and 4/5ths of a second for the 10-furlong trip.
“It feels very good, I love my fans because they know when it comes to big races, Shane Ellis is the man,” added the 47-year-old who also won St Leger races aboard Typewriter (2012), Relampago (2014), Marquesas (2018) and Supreme Soul two years ago.
Subratie, who won last year’s St Leger with 31-1 outsider Nipster, only took charge of Calculus – coming from the Anthony Nunes stables -- in recent weeks. The colt arrived at his stables on June 7 when Maharaj purchased him from another T&T owner Shivam Maharaj.
In spite of Calculus’s failure to win from three starts since his Sir Howard Stakes Guineas prep victory in mid-March, Subratie said he anticipated a strong St Leger effort.
“I expected him to run very well because he has beaten those horses, some of them before. He had some issues, it took a couple of weeks to kind of figure it out,” Subratie said, adding that Calculus will be the horse to beat in the Derby. “Most definitely he just showed it.”
The Jamaican government, through the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sports, has announced a significant initiative to reward the nation’s delegation to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. On Friday, Minister Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange confirmed that JMD$45 million in appreciation grants will be disbursed to the accounts of 66 athletes and 21 athlete-support personnel. This gesture comes as a demonstration of the government’s gratitude for their dedication and representation of Jamaica on the global stage.
Under first-time Derby-winning jockey Philip Parchment, King Arthur surged past the front-running filly Another Affair at the eighth pole and won the JA$6.5 million (US$45,000) Derby by a half-length over St Leger winner Nipster. Another Affair was a further 1-1/2 lengths back in third and Oneofakind fourth. The 9-5 favourite Wow Wow ended sixth.
King Arthur clocked two minutes 33.20 for the 12-furlong trip on a track made sloppy because of heavy afternoon showers.
“He had won in the mud (before) so after the rain and the track became very sloppy, I gave him an excellent chance,” ex-champion trainer DaCosta said after a seventh Derby victory that reignites his bid to challenge for the trainers’ championship title.
The lone filly in the field Another Affair at 40-1 odds cruised into the lead out of the starting gates under jockey Jerome Innis and was two lengths ahead of the stalking pair of King Arthur and Mahogany (4-1) as the 10-horse field passed the stands for the first time.
Behind the front three, Wow Wow raced in a four-horse group with joint 2-1 second-favorites Nipster and Oneofakind and Money Monster (38-1).
Another Affair, who was runner-up in both Fillies Classics – the 1000 Guineas and the Oaks – in the summer, accelerated down the backstretch to lead by over three lengths at the half-way stage, tracked by Mahogany followed by King Arthur and a quickening Oneofakind. Another Affair’s stablemates Wow Wow and Nipster were fifth and seventh respectively at that stage.
Another Affair kept her clear advantage approaching the final bend and as Mahogany faded, King Arthur and Oneofakind accelerated toward the lead.
King Arthur was the first to pounce on the leader early in the home stretch and while Nipster quickened with a motoring rail run reminiscent of his upset St Leger triumph last month, Another Affair appeared to lose some momentum when the whip flew from her rider’s left hand.
Parchment’s aggressive ride with right-hand whipping roused King Arthur past Another Affair who resisted briefly before fast-closing Nipster applied considerable pressure in the run to the finish.
“I can’t explain (my emotions), I am overjoyed,” Parchment said moments after only his second Classic triumph. He had won aboard Princess Annie in the 2019 Oaks for the same Watson/DaCosta combination.
Parchment, who won the Most Improved Rider award for 2019 at Caymanas Park, was aboard King Arthur for the first time in a race but his familiarity with the gelding on the exercise track served him well in the season’s last Classic.
“I am the one who has been working him in the morning. I kind of understand him. I know what he can and what he cannot do. When I saw how the rain was falling I knew he loves this and he was gonna enjoy this,” Parchment said.
With the win, DaCosta sliced into Anthony Nunes’s trainers’ championship lead which stood at JA$5.3 million (US$36,000) entering the Derby raceday. DaCosta also landed Saturday’s co-feature SVREL Sprint Trophy with England’s Rose to climb to JA$36.31m (US$251,000) in 2020 purse earnings and within striking distance of Nunes’s JA$37.68m (US$261,000).
Renowned Jamaican coach Glen Mills, celebrated for mentoring sprint legends like Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake, has revealed his excitement about working with 100m hurdles world-record holder and 2022 world champion, Tobi Amusan. The Nigerian star, who was previously been coached by Jamaican Olympian Lacena Golding-Clarke, has secretly been training in Jamaica under Mills' guidance since September.
Ridden by Panama-born jockey Dick Cardenas, the 2-1 second favourite Miniature Man fought off Nuclear Noon’s stout homestretch challenge to win the JA$3.75 million (US$25,195) Colts and Geldings Guineas by a length and a quarter just an hour after Trainer Ian Parsard also landed his first Classic victory with She’s a Wonder in the 1000 Guineas.
For Jason DaCosta, the Guineas win honoured his late father, 18-time champion trainer Wayne DaCosta, who died in March.
“It means the world, this one is dedicated to Dad,” said previously US-based DaCosta, who has returned home to take charge of his father’s barn of racehorses.
“This is a special one,” he added, reflecting on a tough year for the DaCosta family. His uncle, Elizabeth DaCosta’s brother Wayne McCulloch, had also passed away the week before Wayne’s death in late March.
Hyped as the absorbing rematch of the May 8 Kingston Graded Stakes dead-heat between Miniature Man and 2020 Champion two-year-old Further and Beyond, the 2000 Guineas was contextually anticlimactic as the 3-5 favourite Further and Beyond hardly threatened and finish third.
Down the backstretch, the 9-2 bet Billy Whizz, one of five DaCosta entries in the six-horse field, set the early 23.2 and 46.3 fractions, chased by 66-1 outsider Regal and Royal and Nuclear Noon (4-1).
The pace quickened leaving the half-mile with Nuclear Noon and Regal and Royal on the heels of the front-running Billy Whizz while Miniature Man gained rapidly in fifth and Further and Beyond looked troubled about eight lengths off the lead in seventh place.
Four-time champion jockey Dane Nelson roused Further and Beyond for a rapid move into third coming off the final bend but the pair of Miniature Man and Nuclear Noon had already escaped into a clear advantage.
That duel was riveting until Miniature Man edged away in deep stretch for the win, his third in a row and fourth in nine lifetime starts. Miniature Man clocked one minute 39 and 3/5ths for the eight-furlong win.
“It was a good race. The horse on the inside (Nuclear Noon) was a tough horse but my horse never gave up,” Cardenas said after his third Jamaica 2000 Guineas victory, adding to Mark My World (2010) and Uncle Donny (2012).
Earlier, She’s a Wonder delivered a flawless win in the 1000 Guineas for Fillies, scoring by 7-1/4 lengths as the 1-2 favourite for jockey Reyan Lewis’s first Classic success.
“It feels good to win a Classic at my age and I am thankful,” the 21-year-old Lewis said.
After a brief tussle with the 99-1 shot Silver Hawk early down the backstretch, She’s a Wonder cruised into a commanding lead and used splits of 23.0 and 45.2 to enter the homestretch more than six lengths in front of the 2-1 second favourite Secret Identity and Sure Curlin (48-1). In the end, the 7-1 bet Amy the Butcher (7-1) snatched second from Secret Identity.
Owned by Henry Pratt and the trainer’s wife Karen Parsard, the unchallenged She’s a Wonder clocked 1:41 and 3/5ths while stretching her winning streak to four races.
“She is a fantastic horse to train. We knew coming in that everything was perfect,” Parsard declared after the unchallenged win.
Ridden from off the pace by Linton Steadman for trainer Gary Subratie, Nipster swept to the front inside the final furlong and won the 10-furlong Classic by a length and a quarter over his stablemate and 1-2 favourite Wow Wow in a fast time of two minutes 06.00.
“It’s a bittersweet moment I must say,” a smiling Bernard said. “I really expected and wanted Wow Wow to win so he could continue on his Triple Crown journey, but it’s a wonderful feeling,” he quickly added after watching his two three-year-olds snatch first and second in the JA$3 million (US$21,000) event.
The 20-1 bet Oneofakind was a further half-length behind in third and the even-money second favourite Mahogany struggled to fourth.
Out of the starting gates in pouring rain, 1000 Guineas and Oaks runner-up Another Affair, one of four Subratie entries, shot to the front with Wow Wow, the 99-1 bet Green Gold Rush and King Arthur (8-1) tracking.
Another Affair quickened to lead down the backstretch by seven lengths followed by the 2019 Champion two-year-old Wow Wow and King Arthur racing as a team. Green Gold Rush was fourth and as they hit the six-furlong marker, Mahogany, who had entered the backstretch in 10th spot, gained rapidly toward the lead and moved into fifth spot.
Nipster was still not among the front six at the half-mile as Another Affair’s lead shrunk to just over two lengths with Wow Wow poised to pounce while King Arthur and Mahogany closed in to challenge.
Wow Wow’s rider Robert Halledeen, anxious to keep the 2000 Guineas winner on the Triple Crown path, flew past Another Affair leaving the three-furlong marker with Mahogany on his heels and Wow Wow held command at the top of the homestretch.
Heading to the eighth pole, Wow Wow still led and appeared to be safely repelling Mahogany’s challenge while Oneofakind -- widest of all -- looked threatening and Nipster suddenly appeared with a sprightly rail run.
In a flash, Nipster collared Wow Wow and moved clear with the ecstatic Steadman standing tall in the saddle even before the finish as the colt logged his fifth win in 14 lifetime starts.
“From half mile out I saw he (Nipster) had a whole heap of gas that could last out and become a winner,” Steadman said after his second St Leger triumph.
For Steadman, who had also won the 2016 St Leger with Bigdaddykool, it was his first time aboard Nipster in a race but developed a connection with the Casual Trick-Nippit bred colt after two exercise gallops aboard him.
“The horse is an easy horse to ride, quiet and very easy to deal with. He is cool and kind and (as long as) a horse is cool and kind that’s a whole heap of horse,” Steadman added.
Nipster clocked the fastest St Leger win since War Zone’s race record 2:05.2 in 1996 while foiling Wow Wow’s Triple Crown bid.
“We are disappointed (for Wow Wow) but I am happy for the owner because he believed in the horse,” was Subratie’s take on Nipster denying Wow Wow the chance at becoming the third Triple Crown champion in four years – after She’s a Maneater (2017) and Supreme Soul (2019) -- at Caymanas Park.
Armond, who was 67, was one of regional horse racing’s premier executives and served the sport in various capacities for some 40 years before retiring in 2020.
Armond, who followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather as a racing administrator, first shot to prominence as a commentator in the late 1970s. Rated as one of the best in the business he was awarded the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) Golden Microphone award in 1984.
Armond went on to have a commentary stint in Detroit, Michigan before heading into administration. During his time as an administrator, Armond served as Director of Racing at Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), in his home country Jamaica, Executive Officer of the Arima Race Club in Trinidad, and a chief executive at the Barbados Turf club for eight years. Armond was celebrated for longstanding service at a ceremony, at Jamaica’s Caymanas Park in December 2020.
British sprinter Zharnel Hughes has been confirmed as one of the Racers for the 2025 Grand Slam Track season, which kicks off in Jamaica in April. Hughes, who trains in Jamaica and holds British records in the 100m (9.83 seconds) and 200m (19.73 seconds), brings a wealth of experience and speed to the innovative track and field series.
The announcement was made in a ceremony at PROVEN Wealth Limited’s headquarters.
“We are very proud for Supreme Ventures to be associated with Proven Wealth. The Mouttet Mile is the pre-eminent celebration of horse racing in Jamaica,” said Executive Chairman of Supreme Ventures Limited, Gary Peart.
“It is the richest horse race in the Caribbean. The purse is over US $100,000 both for the Mouttet Mile and an ancillary race we call the Chairman’s Cup. The beautiful thing about the Mouttet Mile and where you see the best of Caymanas is the infield experience that our partners, PROVEN, have decided to come on board with. It will be a wonderful experience,” he added.
“It is our pleasure to partner with the team from Mouttet Mile,” said Assistant Vice President-Wealth Management at Proven Wealth, Miguel Walker.
“We believe that this prestigious sporting event is a game changer in the racing arena and here at PROVEN we are believers in innovation and performance, levers that once put in play, can lead to fundamental successes. We take this opportunity to congratulate our Partners, Supreme Ventures and Caymans Park and we wish them the very best on this execution,” Walker added.
The 3-5 favourite Calculus looked beaten as the front runners quickened away from him coming off the final turn, but Ellis strikingly drove Chevan Maharaj’s colt back into contention and scored by a neck for trainer Gary Subratie’s first Derby triumph.
“It was almost a miracle that he got back to the horses there to win this race,” Trinidad and Tobago’s Maharaj said in the winners’ enclosure.
Calculus clocked two minutes 37 and 4/5ths of a second in the 12-furlong trip for the win over the 6-1 bet Billy Whizz. The 2-1 second favourite Further and Beyond was another length and a half back in third.
The 41-1 outsider Iannai Links led the field for the first three furlongs, tracked by a cluster of horses including Calculus on the rail, 30-1 bet Regal and Royal, Billy Whizz and the stablemates Santorini (20-1), and Further and Beyond.
After opening splits of 24.2 and 48.4, a tightly bunched half of the field cruised past the midway point in the race at a six-furlong split of 1:16 and 4/5ths with Further and Beyond, the 2020 Champion two-year-old, edging into the lead ahead of Iannai Links, Calculus, Billy Whizz and a smooth moving 4-1 shot Big Jule in fifth within two lengths of the lead. Santorini and Regal and Royal were also within striking distance as the pace quickened.
Leaving the three-furlong marker, reigning co-champion jockey Dane Nelson whipped up Further and Beyond and shot into a clear lead while Big Jule went in chase. Billy Whizz also made a sharp move toward the lead and the three appeared to have the seemingly one-paced Calculus beaten.
Early in the homestretch, Big Jule failed to quicken and Panama-born jockey Dick Cardenas presented Billy Whizz with a surging outside challenge approaching the eighth pole that sliced into Further and Beyond’s lead. But Ellis – shifting from the inside rail -- suddenly flipped Calculus’s initial mild recovery into a jetting move between the new leader Billy Whizz and Nelson’s tiring colt. A quick change from left to right hand whipping by Ellis finished the job as Calculus swept through a tight space for the win.
“Dick was there on my outside, I had to shake my horse and let him know that the job is not done. I had to bustle my way through and show them that ‘big man a big man,” a smiling Ellis said after adding to previous Derby wins he had with Awesome Power (2011), Typewriter (2012), Relampago (2014), Orpheus (2016) and Supreme Soul two years ago.
Calculus only arrived in Subratie’s barn two months ago from champion trainer Anthony Nunes’s stables after Maharaj purchased the colt from another T&T owner Shivam Maharaj, and the season’s leading trainer in wins praised Ellis’s job in the saddle.
“The passage was getting tight but Shane did his job and that’s what we wanted,” said Subratie, whose 9-5 Derby favourite last year Wow Wow was beaten into sixth position while his other two entries Nipster and Another Affair narrowly lost in second and third to upset winner King Arthur.
Maharaj, who had a T&T Derby win in 2017 with the Jamaica-bred filly Leading Lady, also acclaimed Ellis’s ride that landed the 47-year-old jockey his 22nd Classic triumph.
“At the top of the lane, honestly I thought he was beaten I could not imagine that Shane was able to get some extra out of him to get back to the horses in front. All credit to him for a fantastic ride” said Maharaj, who was winning his second Jamaica Derby in three years, having scored with Triple Crown winner Supreme Soul in 2019.
In the co-feature, Jamaica Oaks, Fillies Guineas winner She’s a Wonder galloped to a predictable win in the JA$3.75 Million (US$24,460) event to give 21-year-old jockey Reyan Lewis and trainer Ian Parsard their first win in the 10-furlong Classic.
She’s a Wonder scored by three lengths as the 1-5 favourite ahead of Amy the Butcher (5-1) and clocked 2:13.3/5ths for her sixth win in 12 lifetime starts.
SVREL Chairman Solomon Sharpe was naturally saddened by the passing of the man whom he considered a dear friend.
“I have many fond memories of working with Chris from the early days and was always impressed by his vast knowledge,” Sharpe said.
“He has done so much for Caymanas Park and the horseracing industry in general. I offer my condolences to his family and friends. He will be greatly missed.”
Armond, who was the Director of Racing at Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL) enjoyed an illustrious career spanning more than 40 years and was held as the standard for horse race commentary throughout the region.
In 1984, he was awarded the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) Golden Microphone Award for his commentary. Armond also commentated in Detroit, Michigan and served as an administrator in Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados.
“For many Jamaicans, Armond is the voice of horseracing,” SVREL said in a statement Wednesday.
“From 1975 to 1985, Chris Armond established a new level of excitement and accuracy in race commentary with his distinguished vocal delivery. He provided colourful commentary in his distinctive voice, bringing horseracing into homes across the island.
“Even today, he remains the gold standard of commentating in the industry, not just locally but also for fans overseas.”
In addition to Armond’s iconic commentary, he also served as an administrator in the industry for many years and was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Thoroughbred Racing in June 2017 under the category of “Other Racing Personalities”.
It was seemingly natural for Christopher Joseph Armond to have a professional life as part of the racing industry. His father, Joseph, a Hall of Fame inductee, was co-managing director of Caymanas Park Limited, and his grandfather Altamont was the founder of the promoting company, Jamaica Turf Club. Armond carried on this family legacy and served as Director of Racing until his retirement on Sunday, December 27, 2020.
“Armond has left an indelible legacy in the sport of horseracing. His accomplishments are insurmountable and his contribution to the sport will never be diminished,” SVREL’s statement said.
“Our thoughts are with his family and dear friends during this difficult time.”
The Caribbean Pool is a Caribbean inter-island commingling platform that allows for Caribbean Tote operators to bet into each other, thereby creating bigger pools, bigger profits for its member partners, and most importantly, bigger payouts to its punters.
The Pool will also facilitate greater cooperation and participation between the Caribbean Pool Operators with the aim of growing local racing both regionally and internationally.
Chairman of SVL Gary Peart outlined what this agreement means for the company.
“As we have been able to do for many of our other SVL brands, our goal for SVREL in 2022 is to continue our revenue growth through local, regional and international expansion. The Caribbean Pool aligns perfectly with our vision for the company and as such we are happy to participate as lead partner,” he said.
With the two largest regional racetracks onboard and an expectation that the Barbados Turf Club will sign on as early as January 2022 and the Royal St Lucia Turf Club joining in as soon as they resume racing in 2022, the Caribbean Pool is set to delight Caribbean racing fans.
Founder of The Caribbean Pool Kimani Robinson of the Kisero Group also reacted to the agreement.
“Our vision was to create a new and exciting regional simulcast portal that would generate greater returns for the Caribbean track and pool operators as well as their punters,” Robinson added.
Robinson, who noted that he first discussed the idea with SVL’s Chairman Peart where both men hammered out the constructs of the legal and technical structure required to make the platform a reality, added that regional merging is the future of horse racing in the Caribbean.
“Regional commingling is the future of Caribbean horse racing. A regionally commingled platform will create greater relevance and awareness for the sport which means greater economic benefits for all. There is no reason why the Caribbean Pool shouldn’t replicate for horse racing what West Indies Cricket did for regional cricket,” he said.
In terms of awareness, The Caribbean Pool has formed an alliance with the perfect regional media partners, the Caribbean's Home of Champions, SportsMax, who have agreed to become the home of all things Caribbean Pool and Caribbean Horse Racing.
SportsMax CEO Nicolas Matthews confirmed that “racing fans will be in for a treat as SportsMax beefs up its Caribbean horse racing coverage via the Caribbean Pool. Given our regional strength, especially in the participating Caribbean Pool countries being contemplated and our ambition of providing our audiences with more of what they want, the Caribbean Pool is a perfect fit for us”.
Along with coverage on their linear channels SportsMax and SportsMax2, SportsMax will include a dedicated channel within the SportsMax App called "SportsMax Racing" that will provide most of the Caribbean Pool’s racing content.
“Our team has worked side by side with the Kisero Group for months in making the Caribbean Pool a reality,” commented SVREL CEO Lorna Gooden.
“We are aggressively on a growth path for 2022 and though we have made significant headway in simulcasting our content internationally, we believe that regional growth for us will be faster and more responsive due to existing familiarity,” Gooden added, before expanding further on what the agreement demonstrates.
“This agreement is a further demonstration of the commitment and drive of the Board and management at Caymanas Park to expand the product offering available to our punters, to promote and establish Caymanas Park as the horseracing mecca of the Caribbean,” she said.
The Caribbean Pool is set to start in short order and is hoping to get all clearances and approvals granted for a soft launch over the Christmas holidays.
DaCosta, who reports said, was infected by the Covid-19 virus was in intensive care battling complications related to Covid-19 infection.
A mainstay in Jamaica’s racing industry for more than four decades, DaCosta won the trainers' title 18 times, the most by any trainer in the country.
He won the Triple Crown twice times with War Zone in 1996 and She's A Maneater in 2017. He also won the Diamond Mile at Caymanas Park four times, twice with Seeking My Dream and twice with She’s A Maneater.
