SVREL signs historic agreement to join The Caribbean Pool

By December 24, 2021

Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited today signed a historic agreement establishing themselves, along with Trinidad’s Arima Racetrack, as the first two Caribbean Track and Pool Operators to participate in The Caribbean Pool. 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

Bradley Jacks

Bradley Jacks is a budding journalist and an avid sports fan. His love of research and sports has led him to SportsMax.tv, a place where those passions work hand in hand to allow him to produce content.

Related items

  • On track: Hallgrimsson says CNL performance a positive step towards World Cup qualification On track: Hallgrimsson says CNL performance a positive step towards World Cup qualification

    With an historic third-place finish at the Concacaf Nations League now out the way, Jamaica’s senior Reggae Boyz Head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson is hoping they can ride the momentum to an even bigger accomplishment, which is to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

    Though Hallgrimsson would have preferred the 2023/24 CNL title, as opposed to the bronze they secured with a 1-0 win over Panama, he believes the achievement represents a step in the right direction on their quest to add to the country’s 1998 World Cup feat.

    “This is just a part of our journey. We were trying to build something for this tournament as there is a saying that ‘success is not a destination, success is not a date, it’s a continuous journey to the right direction’. So, we’re just working on improving this team, as our biggest goal at the moment is to try to reach the World Cup finals,” Hallgrimsson declared. 

    Jamaica’s third-place battle followed a heartbreaking 3-1 extra-time loss to United States in an entertaining semi-final contest that they led from the very first minute, but lost after Corey Burke’s last-gasped own-goal brought the opponents back into the game.

    Still, Hallgrimsson took the positives from the tournament, as he pointed to the psychologically importance and confidence gained heading into the prestigious CONMEBOL Copa America, which also serves as part of the Reggae Boyz preparation for the World Cup qualifiers.

    “This is a good step to play important matches, to play big tournaments, and to play strong opponents like the United States and Panama. They are two of the three highest-ranked Concacaf teams and we showed that we are closing in on this gap, even with the number of players not with us. So, I have to give a lot of credit to the players for the way they presented themselves for Jamaica,” Hallgrimsson said.

    “I think it’s psychological just to know that we can face these teams of this calibre. Again, talking about missing players, I normally don’t talk about missing players, but it gives belief in what we are doing, and I think that is the biggest benefit for us,” he added.

    Those benefits which Hallgrimsson alluded to, includes the fact that player such as Leon Bailey, Ethan Pinnock, Amari’i Bell, Demarai Gray, Michail Antonio and Shamar Nicholson all missed the nail-biting United States encounter. However, Gray and Nicholson played their part in the Panama win after returning from red card suspensions.

    For the Icelandic tactician, the absence of key players provided the opportunity for other to not only show their worth, but also to stake a claim on spots for the Copa America and World Cup qualifying squads. Interestingly enough, it was full-backs Greg Leigh and Dexter Lembikisa that got Jamaica's goals across the two games.

    “This camp has given us more depth in the squad, players really punched in and showed that they want to belong into this starting lineup. Jamaica is richer after this camp,” Hallgrimsson noted.

    “Tactics, it was both because we were missing players and playing good teams so we thought it would be better to play with three at the back. Given that we played 120 minutes (against United States) it was a really good performance, a solid performance from the team so I’m happy,” he ended.

    Jamaica is scheduled to face Ecuador, Mexico and Venezuela in Group B of the June 20 to July 14 Copa America, while Dominican Republic, Dominica, Guatemala and British Virgin Islands are their Group E opponents for the World Cup qualifiers, also scheduled to begin in June.

  • Regally-bred Kikkuli one to note in the Juddmonte ranks this year Regally-bred Kikkuli one to note in the Juddmonte ranks this year

    Kikkuli could be Juddmonte’s “dark horse for the year” as he prepares for the early stages of his three-year-old season.

    A half-brother to the mighty Frankel and by the owners’ Classic-winning sire Kingman, he is the last foal out of Kind and is fittingly trained at Beckhampton by Harry Charlton, the training facility from which Kind blitzed her way to two Listed victories during her on-track career.

    With such a regal bloodline, there was plenty of excitement surrounding the colt’s Newmarket debut towards the end of last season, where Kikkuli showed plenty of promise to keep on for second behind subsequent Listed scorer Zoum Zoum.

    The third from that seven-furlong maiden, Balmacara, has recently given the form a timely boost and connections are hopeful there is plenty of untapped potential still to be seen from Kikkuli this term.

    “Harry is happy with the horse and feels like the horse has done well from two to three, he has got a lot stronger and is training nicely,” said Juddmonte’s European racing manager Barry Mahon.

    “His debut is good form and I think Kikkuli was ready for a day out that day. Harry had said he was far from the finished article.

    “It’s good form and we would like to think there could be some improvement to come, so he could be a dark horse for the year.”

    Kikkuli is set to stick to calmer waters for the time being with the goal of shedding his maiden status in the early stages of the campaign, while the hope from his team is that he could blossom into a big-race contender by the time Royal Ascot arrives later in the summer.

    “We will probably start off low key with him and go for a maiden or a novice and then just see how we go,” continued Mahon.

    “If he is going to make into good horse, then it will be probably from Royal Ascot time onwards he will be stepping into those good races.

    “But if we can get a maiden or a novice done in the next six weeks or so it would be great and we can just move up slowly from there.”

  • Murphy fired up for another big All-Weather Finals challenge Murphy fired up for another big All-Weather Finals challenge

    Oisin Murphy is aiming to repeat last year’s All-Weather Championships Finals Day heroics when he returns to Newcastle on Good Friday.

    The 28-year-old enjoyed a fantastic afternoon at Gosforth Park 12 months ago, walking away with a treble in some of the most valuable races on the bumper card and all for his long-time training ally Andrew Balding.

    Murphy is back in the north east with a stacked book of rides and as well as linking up with Kingsclere handler Balding, he will also get the leg-up from John and Thady Gosden, Rod Millman and Roger Varian over the course of the afternoon.

    One of the Irishman’s best chances of success is the Juddmonte-owned Fire Demon, who is the general favourite for the BetMGM All-Weather 3 Year Old Championships Handicap.

    However, Murphy is full of respect for some of the other leading contenders in the six-furlong event having partnered David Evans’ track-and-trip scorer Blue Prince in his last two starts.

    Murphy said: “I had a great day at Newcastle on this card last year. It’s a little bit more competitive this time and many of the races are handicaps.

    “Fire Demon won well at Kempton and seems in good shape since the race. He seems to be improving, but I actually respect Blue Prince and Sommelier a lot – Blue Prince has already won there and I feel it will suit Blue Prince a lot more than Lingfield where I was just beat on him last time.”

    Murphy will donning the blue and white silks of King Power Racing for Balding aboard recent Kempton winners Fivethousandtoone and Teumessias Fox.

    It was in the King Power silks Murphy teamed up with Balding to land the Easter Classic through Notre Belle Bete in 2023 and synthetics specialist Teumessias Fox is fancied to repeat the dose.

    “Teumessias Fox Fox loves the all-weather and goes well fresh. He has a lot going for him, he’s easy to ride and I would hope he would put up a bold show,” continued Murphy.

    He went on:”Fivethousandtoone won really well at Kempton last time and is in great shape and is moving well. It’s a competitive race, but he’s fairly treated by the handicapper on past form and hopefully he will go well.”

    Millman’s Just A Spark and the Gosdens’ Vaguely Royal are two other rides, and he will will finish the afternoon aboard another King Power Racing-owned candidate, the Varian-trained Fantastic Fox in the BetMGM All-Weather Championships Mile Handicap, with the six-year-old course-and-distance winner arriving having won three of his last five.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.