Slipofthepen had to settle for third, as Captain Winters was given a superb, enterprising ride by Neil Callan to cause an upset in the Listed Heron Stakes at Sandown.

Royal runner Slipofthepen – who came into the race unbeaten after landing two all-weather mile races at Kempton – was sent off the 4-9 favourite under James Doyle to win for the King and Queen.

However, the John and Thady Gosden-trained Night Of Thunder colt was a stride or two slow from the stalls and was still last of the quartet turning for home.

Though he appeared to travel well as the keen Grey’s Monument set the pace, Slipofthepen did not pick up as expected.

Callan stole a march on the Kevin Ryan-trained 12-1 outsider approaching two furlongs out and with Finn’s Charm – who had beaten him 10 lengths at Musselburgh – folding quickly, it was left to the long-time leader to keep up the challenge.

Though Captain Winters tired near the line, he just had enough to score by a fast-diminishing nose.

Graceful Thunder gave owners Amo Racing their eighth juvenile winner from 19 runners when showing plenty of determination to land the Chasemore Farm British EBF Fillies’ Novice Stakes at Sandown.

Trained by George Boughey, the daughter of Havana Grey knew her job on debut, breaking well under Kevin Stott in the five-furlong contest.

Though a little keen early from a wide draw, she settled and travelled well as Miss Show Off set the pace on the far rail.

Having hit the front inside the final furlong, the 7-2 shot was immediately challenged by Flora Of Bermuda, yet knuckled down well to score by a neck from long-time leader Miss Show Off, with Say Hello staying on in eyecatching fashion to snatch third, just a head further back.

Royal Ascot now beckons, as Boughey explained.

“She had only done two or three bits of work since she joined us, but she has pleased us with what she has done. It was not a huge surprise that she won, but we had not asked her any serious questions at home,” he said.

“Drawn where she was looked an inconvenience, but she jumped well from the gate and she showed a super attitude which is something Havana Grey seems to be putting into them.

“We could have gone for an easy option up north and won by four lengths, but these horses need to learn if they are going to go to the Royal meeting and she will have learnt more winning like that today.

“She looks to have plenty of pace and looks a five-furlong filly. We will take it one step at a time, but I’d say we will be looking at the Queen Mary with her and I don’t think there is any point seeing her again before that.”

Cinnodin (3-1) came from last to first under David Egan to take the Athlone Handicap.

Winner of two low-grade all-weather handicaps at Southwell and Wolverhampton, he was foiled by half a length in his hat-trick bid at Wetherby last time, but bounced back to winning ways in style for trainer Richard Hughes.

The 11-8 favourite Roost left his race at the start, when his head was caught over the adjacent stall and when finally extracted by Hector Crouch, his rivals had already gone almost a furlong ahead.

Steven Seagull set the pace before being passed by Enochdhu with two furlongs to race, but Cinnodin lengthened well and swept by to score going away by two and a half lengths.

Hughes said: “I don’t normally like going a mile and three-quarters with a three-year-old this early on, but he would get two miles tomorrow as he is an out-and-out stayer.

“He is pretty one-paced, but I think he will get quicker as he gets stronger. He was getting a stone off the top two, but at the same time I love the way he devoured the hill.”

Breeders’ Cup fourth Midnight Mile and Fillies’ Mile runner-up Novakai head a strong Yorkshire-trained challenge for the Tattersalls Musidora Stakes at York.

Richard Fahey trains Midnight Mile, who lost her unbeaten record but still ran with credit in the Juvenile Fillies Turf having been slowly away, after previously landing the Oh So Sharp Stakes at Newmarket.

From the family of Quarter Moon and Yesterday, who were both second in the Oaks, Midnight Mile does not hold an entry for the Classic but given her connections, it would not be a surprise if she was added to the Epsom field should she run well.

“We are very pleased with her. She has wintered extremely well and we are very happy with her,” said Fahey.

“She has filled out and I should imagine this trip will probably suit her well. But this is a good Musidora, a very good race and it will be a good filly who wins it.

“She started late last year and she took a little time to come to herself, so I haven’t rushed her this year.

“We skipped the Guineas and all that carry on and decided this was the route to go.

“She got some nice experience last year and we’ve always felt she would make a better three-year-old, so fingers crossed.

“I’ll tell you after the race where we think she’ll get to!”

Novakai, who was also second in the May Hill Stakes, is much the highest-rated filly in the field.

Trained by Karl Burke, the daughter of Lope De Vega chased home the now-retired Commissioning in the Fillies’ Mile and is bred to improve for middle distances this season being out of a Nathaniel mare.

While the two aforementioned fillies bring plenty of Pattern form to the table, the favourite is Sir Michael Stoute’s Infinite Cosmos, a Newmarket maiden winner.

Andrew Balding’s Sea Of Roses has also only won a maiden, but she beat Infinite Cosmos on that occasion and has finished second in a French Group Three already this term.

Jack Channon’s Gather Ye Rosebuds won her only start to date by nine and a half lengths on soft ground at Newbury.

The form has not been tested as yet, but she could not have created a better impression.

“It was a great result first time and she put in what looks like an outstanding performance. She’s comfortably beaten a well-touted field, albeit on softer ground than she’ll encounter on Wednesday. But she couldn’t have been more impressive,” said Channon.

“I feel like, mentally and physically, she’s improved from that run. And if she can replicate that sort of level of form, then you’d like to think that she goes there with a great chance.

“She’s a big filly that’s maturing day in, day out. She hadn’t quite lost her coat at Newbury, but she’s really shining now. She’s started to flourish in the last three weeks and I couldn’t be happier with the way all her work and everything like that’s gone.

“She hasn’t proven she’s stakes class yet, albeit it being a very impressive maiden win. So she’s got a lot of questions to answer – but hopefully she’s got the answers.

“Whether she’s good enough or not, it’s exciting to at least have a horse that you feel like you might be able to compete a bit with the big boys. It’s just nice to hopefully have something good enough to highlight the fact, given the opportunity with the right stock, that you can produce the goods.”

John and Thady Gosden’s Soul Sister finished last of 12 in the Fred Darling at Newbury and is expected to appreciate the better surface on the Knavesmire.

“She won well first time at Doncaster on her debut at the back end of last season and obviously the ground at the Greenham meeting at Newbury was very, very testing indeed,” said Thady Gosden.

“She didn’t handle the ground, as many didn’t. We’ve always thought she is a filly with plenty of class and obviously it is a very competitive race, but she should like the track.

“We certainly think she’ll take a step forward.”

Lambada represents Aidan O’Brien, winner one of her three starts so far and a relatively rare Dubawi runner for the Ballydoyle team.

“I have a lot of time for a few of these, and obviously I rode Infinite Cosmos to win her maiden in decisive fashion at Newmarket earlier in the month and she is a filly I rate, but hopefully Lambada can hold her own,” her jockey Ryan Moore told Betfair.

“I haven’t ridden her in a race before but she won a decent maiden over an extended nine furlongs at Gowran Park in good style on her reappearance and the further they went, the better she looked there.

“We are obviously dealing with a lot of unexposed fillies here, so it is hard to be anything other than hopeful, but the trip certainly looks as if it will suit.”

David Simcock’s once-raced Empress Wu completes the field.

Golden Arrow, who created a highly favourable impression when scoring on debut at Hamilton on Sunday, will head to the Listed National Stakes at Sandown on Thursday week.

Alice Haynes is eyeing Royal Ascot following the Havana Grey juvenile’s three-quarter-length victory in the five-furlong Sky Bet Sunday Series EBF Maiden Stakes, and is keen to give the colt more experience beforehand.

Having made smooth headway against four rivals under Kieran O’Neill, Golden Arrow led a furlong out and kept on strongly at the first time of asking for owners Al Mohamediya Racing.

“It was a fantastic performance,” said Haynes. “He is all speed and will sharpen up a lot from that.

“The front two had the experience and I liked how he was behind the bridle the whole way and then came through at the end.

“Although he was a breeze-up horse, I quite like my two-year-olds to be behind the bridle, so they are not doing too much, and then to finish like that.”

The in-form Newmarket handler, who started training in 2021, is keen to head to the Royal meeting with the colt, who cost £200,000 at the breeze-ups.

“He will have an entry in the National Stakes before Royal Ascot, as I think it is important he goes and gets a bit more valid experience. He will probably be Norfolk Stakes-bound,” added Haynes.

“Thursday week will come around quickly and hopefully the ground will dry out a bit more. We might get some summer ground soon. We look forward to seeing ‘good’ in the ground.

“He is an exciting prospect and it is good for the owners, who are new with me.

“He was one of the more expensive ones, but Havana Greys are a real a pleasure to train.”

The trainer of Hill Sixteen says protesters who held up the start of Saturday's Grand National race were responsible for the death of the horse.

The 10-year-old, ridden by Ryan Mania, fell at the first fence and after being tended to on the course, had to be put to sleep.

The incident came after animal rights campaigners had succeeded in delaying the race at Aintree as police arrested 118 people amid scenes of chaos.

The start was held up for 14 minutes after a large number of activists attempted to gain access to the course before the main event.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, trainer Sandy Thomson pointed to the fact his horse had never had a problem on the course in previous rides, and suggested the fall was due to being "buzzed up" from the protesters' actions.

"It was all caused by these so-called animal lovers who are actually ignorant and have absolutely no idea about the welfare of horses," he said.

"There were quite a lot of the horses buzzed up... When they got down to the start, nobody quite knew what was happening.

"The starter wanted to get them off as quickly as possible, then the horses were drawn forward then told to get back.

"One of the other things missing was the parade. I think that gives the horses and the jockeys that couple of minutes to gather their thoughts and that didn't help the situation either."

Activist group Animal Rising, whose supporters disrupted the race, said: "We want to offer our deepest condolences to anyone connected to Hill Sixteen or who has been impacted by their death.

"Horse deaths and injuries are an unavoidable consequence of the way we use animals for sport."

The Grand National is among the world's most famous races but also has its detractors, with concerns over the number of horses that suffer serious injuries or die from falls.

Two horses died at the Liverpool course in earlier races during the week's festival, before Hill Sixteen became the third fatality.

"If we look at the last nine years since the course has been modified there's been an average of under two fallers at the first two fences," Thomson added.

"This year everyone got very uptight about [the protests] – horses, jockeys – and there were eight fallers at those first two fences.

"We as a sport are continually moving forward, we're continually trying to make the sport safer."

Corach Rambler won the 175th running of the famous steeplechase.

Animal rights campaigners succeeded in delaying the Grand National at Aintree on Saturday as police arrested 118 people amid scenes of chaos.

Corach Rambler won the 175th running of the famous steeplechase; however, the start was held up for 14 minutes after a large number of activists attempted to gain access to the course before the main event.

Merseyside Police said arrests had been made for "offences including causing public nuisance and criminal damages", with efforts to breach the perimeter fence and enter the track largely thwarted.

The Aintree spectacle is among the world's most famous races but also has many detractors, with concerns over the number of horses that suffer serious injuries or die from falls.

Two horses died at the Liverpool course in earlier races during this week's Grand National Festival, and a third passed away in the big race itself, with Hill Sixteen dying after falling early on.

Police and security had been on alert for a likely effort to interrupt the race.

Assistant chief constable Paul White said: "The perimeter of Aintree racecourse covers an extensive area of between 4-5km and obviously poses challenges for policing. However, we have been planning the policing of this event for a number of months and we had a robust plan in place to ensure that we had adequate staff to deal with it.

"Just after 5pm a large number of protesters attempted to gain entry onto Aintree racecourse. The majority were prevented from breaching the boundary fencing thanks to our planning and the work of my officers.

"I can confirm a total of 118 people have been arrested today. I would like to thank everyone for their patience whilst this matter was dealt with in a safe and appropriate manner."

After the protest drama, pre-race favourite Corach Rambler lived up to that billing by timing the finish to perfection, coming home ahead of Vanillier, with third place going to Gaillard Du Mesnil.

Reacting to the news of Hill Sixteen's death, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), indicated its concerns about horse safety at the meeting.

The RSPCA said on Twitter: "‘We are very distressed to hear of the deaths of Hill Sixteen, Dark Raven and Envoye Special at the Grand National Festival today. We will be discussing this incident with the British Horseracing Authority."

Corach Rambler won the 175th Grand National on Saturday after the race was delayed by a protest from animal welfare campaigners that resulted in 23 people being arrested.

The Aintree steeplechase is among the world's most famous races but also has many detractors, with concerns over the number of horses that suffer serious injuries or die from falls.

Two horses died at the Liverpool course in earlier races during this week's Grand National Festival. Two horses also died during the 2022 showpiece race.

Protests were expected this year, and they manifested in an attempt by a large number of activists to gain access to the course before the main event.

Police and security swiftly move to halt the progress of the protesters, and race was held up for less than 15 minutes.

Merseyside Police revealed that 23 arrests had been made, with more set to follow as the operation continues.

In a statement, the force said: "We are continuing to work with The Jockey Club and other partners to keep people safe during the Grand National Festival.

"We are aware of people who planned to protest at today's event. This has been factored into our plans. We respect the right to peaceful protest and expression of views, but criminal behaviour and disorder will not be tolerated and will be dealt with robustly."

After the protest drama, pre-race favourite Corach Rambler lived up to that billing by timing the finish to perfection as the earlier leader Mister Coffey faltered.

Corach Rambler finished ahead of Vanillier, with third place going to Gaillard Du Mesnil, after a number of horses fell during the race.

Winning jockey Derek Fox, celebrating his second Grand National triumph after a 2017 victory on One For Arthur, told ITV after the race the credit had to go to Corach Rambler.

"He is just a phenomenal horse. I can't believe it," Fox said.

"He normally gets his head up a wee bit, but today he travelled everywhere. He is the cleverest horse. He is so intelligent."

Barbadian jockey Rico Walcott has decided to move to Toronto’s competitive Woodbine racetrack after 15 years in Western Canada where he has been dominant with multiple championship titles.

A 13-time champion at various tracks in Alberta, Walcott is expected to begin his Toronto stint when the Woodbine season starts next month.

Woodbine will be far more challenging than his lengthy sojourn in Edmonton but Caribbean riders have won multiple championship titles at the world-famous Woodbine in the past, Barbadian Patrick Husbands, Trinidad and Tobago’s Emile Ramsammy and Jamaica George HoSang and the 33-year-old Walcott is hoping for a successful transition.

“I am going to do my best like a did out west and hope for the best,” Walcott told ex-jockey Sean Hall’s Journeys Horse Racing Talk Show.

Walcott, who left Barbados for Canada in 2007, has won 1,524 races in North America including 160 stakes triumphs with mounts’ earnings of just under US$20 million. He won eight jockeys’ titles at the now defunct Northlands Park and was also champion three times at Century Downs and twice at Century Mile.

Walcott survived a career-threatening medical issue in March 2019 when -- after suffering sudden seizures -- he was diagnosed with a brain tumour “the size of a golf ball”, doctors said. After surgery, Walcott returned to race-riding a few months later and would remarkably win the late season Century Downs title in October 2019.

Several Barbadian jockeys are currently based at Woodbine, including seven-time champion jockey Patrick Husbands, Slade Jones, Juan Crawford and Jason Hoyte who all finished as top-20 riders in the 2022 season.

Walcott placed seventh in last Saturday’s Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup at the Garrison Savannah aboard the 7-1 bet American Diamond, and is now targeting the 2023 Woodbine season which opens on Saturday, April 22 and runs through Sunday, December 10.

Frankie Dettori will call time on one of racing's greatest careers next year after the Italian superstar jockey announced his retirement plans.

The 52-year-old is a two-time winner of the Derby and has been British flat racing's Champion Jockey crown three times, also enjoying a record six victories at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in Paris.

He famously won seven out of seven races at Ascot on September 28, 1996, arguably the pinnacle of his career even if it did not contain his biggest victories.

Dettori said he wanted to "stop at the top" and revealed seeing football legend Cristiano Ronaldo fall out of favour with Manchester United and Portugal recently played a part in his thinking.

Speaking on Saturday, Dettori told ITV Racing: "Next year, 2023, will be my final professional year as a jockey. It's something I've been thinking about for a while.

"I'll be riding right through. It will be my last Guineas, last Derby, my last Royal Ascot, so on and so forth, and finish at the end of the season, it could be Champions Day [at Ascot] or Newmarket, and then probably have the final farewell as a professional rider in California at the Breeders' Cup.

"I want to stop at the top. I think I'm still in that bracket of being good, and it was difficult, but I think it's the right time.

"I'm not making comparisons, but look at Ronaldo who was playing one minute and was on the bench the next, and I don't want to end up like that.

"I don't want to end up where I'm struggling to get rides in the big races. At the moment, I still have good horses to ride, and I want to finish like that."

Dettori has won 21 British Classics and has had 14 winners at the Breeders' Cup plus 77 victories at Royal Ascot.

His first UK winner came in 1987, aboard Lizzy Hare at Goodwood, and he has since had over 3,000 winners worldwide.

According to ITV, fellow great AP McCoy compared Dettori to footballing royalty.

"He's racing's Lionel Messi, you can't teach a kid to ride like Frankie Dettori," McCoy said.

PROVEN Wealth and Supreme Ventures Limited on November 22 announced a partnership for the staging of the Caribbean’s single richest horse-racing event, the Mouttet Mile, at Caymanas Park on December 3.

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.

Barbadian Christopher Husbands repeated as champion jockey at Canada’s Fort Erie racetrack this week after strong performances in the final weeks of the season.

Steering the 1-5 favourite Milwaukee Bay to victory in Monday’s final day first race, Husbands finished the five-month-long season with 32 wins, two ahead of title rival Melanie Pinto, who went winless on the final day.

The three-year-old filly Milwaukee Bay, trained by Daniel Wills, was held off the pace by Husbands and flew past the front-running 8-1 bet Cloud Runner in the homestretch to win the CAN$14,700 Maiden Claiming event by 4-1/4 lengths. Milwaukee Bay clocked one minute 49.02 seconds for the mile and sixteenth trip.

Although finishing No.2 to Husbands in wins in the 2022 campaign, Pinto, who was leading rider for long periods during the season, earned the title of Outstanding Rider, voted by her peers.

Three other Caribbean riders finished in the top six of the jockeys’ table – Jamaicans MarkLee Buchanan (24) and Kirk Johnson (20th) at fourth and fifth respectively with Barbadian Juan Crawford sixth on 19 wins.

Husbands, 32, won his first Fort Erie title last year and now has four jockeys’ championship titles in Canada, having lifted crowns at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg in 2014 and 2016.

As a 16-year-old, Husbands had won the 2006 Trinidad Derby aboard Sara’s Music and he now has 590 career wins in Canadian racing. This 2022 jockeys’ triumph for Husbands makes it 10 times in the last 12 years a Caribbean rider is No.1 at Fort Erie.

Crawford, five-time champion Johnson, and the Barbadians Chris Griffith and Terry Husbands have also been Fort Erie champions in the past dozen years.

The 3-2 favourite Blue Vinyl used a devastating last-furlong acceleration to stage a massive win in Sunday’s Jamaica 2000 Guineas at Caymanas Park, giving young rider Raddesh Roman his first ever Classic success.

The Oakridge Farms’ unbeaten chestnut filly Atomica delivered one of the most smashing performances ever in Caymanas Park Classic racing history with a 20-length victory in Saturday’s Jamaica 1000 Guineas.

Ridden by Dane Dawkins for trainer Gary Subratie, Atomica crippled the eight-horse field with an acceleration in the final furlong that landed her a stakes record one minute 37.00 for the one-mile trip, erasing a 38-year-old mark by the brilliant 1984 horse of the year Thornbird.

“She got a really easy race today and she still broke the stakes record,” a completely satisfied Subratie said post-race.

The 30-1 outsider Our Angel was second and Silent Mission (14-1) third in the JA$3.75 million (US$24,500) event that opened Jamaica’s Triple Crown Series.

Dawkins, aboard his first ever Classic winner, cruised to the front aboard the big 1-9 favourite shortly after the start, with 8-1 second favourite Golden Whattle, last year’s champion two-year-old, in pursuit.

Heading down the backstretch to the far turn, Atomica was coasting on a two-length lead with Silent Mission, Golden Whattle and 30-1 bet Our Angel stalking the pace.

Atomica, who had won the Guineas “prep” races – the Thornbird Stakes and Portmore – in April and May, respectively, by a combined total of almost 20 lengths, quickened effortlessly into a three-length lead leaving the half-mile.

She was five lengths clear coming off the final bend and it was approaching the final furlong that Dawkins roused her for the first time in the race. He never used the whip once and hinted in the winners’ enclosure that we have not yet seen the best of the filly.

“From I left the starting gate I was very comfortable. She has a lot more (in the tank),” said the 28-year-old Dawkins, whose previous best finish in a Classic was second in the 2000 Guineas two years ago aboard Mahogany.

Atomica’s eight-furlong clocking shaved 2/5ths of a second off Thornbird’s 1984 mark of 1:37 and 2/5ths.

The win was Subratie’s third in the 1000 Guineas after Niphal in 2011 and Nuclear Affair in 2016 and he appeared to embrace the Triple Crown bid with the longer St Leger (10 furlongs) and Derby (12 furlongs) to come. “Every distance she goes she wins further away, so it is showing she will go the distance,” Subratie said, supported by owner Don Wehby.

“Based on what I saw today, I would love to go in the Derby,” Wehby said.

By Nuclear Wayne out of the Reparations mare Honkeytonkville, Atomica was winning her fifth race in a row and the champion filly’s breeder Karl Samuda, a current Government minister, believes they have hit the jackpot with her breeding.

“Her mother, the dam line is both speed and journey. Now we combine that with Nuclear Wayne, who also has speed and distance so it’s two great factors that collide in one animal and that’s why she is so great,” said Samuda, Jamaica’s Minister of Labour and Social Security.

Legendary jockey Lester Piggott has died at the age of 86.

Piggott is widely regarded as the best rider of all time, having racked up a staggering 4,493 winners on the flat in Britain and 20 over hurdles in a 43-season career.

The Englishman won 30 British Classics – including a record nine in the Derby – and had 116 Royal Ascot successes.

His tally of worldwide winners is said to be around the 5,300 mark.

Among the many highlights of his career was completing the Triple Crown on Nijinsky in 1970.

A sporting icon, Piggott was champion jockey 11 times and runner-up in six seasons.

It was announced on Sunday that Piggott had passed away in Switzerland, where he lived.

Trainer William Haggas, Piggott's son-in-law, said "Sadly we can confirm that Lester died peacefully in Switzerland this morning."

Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), operators of Caymanas Park, is in mourning at the passing of industry stalwart Christopher Armond. The iconic former commentator turned administrator died on Wednesday after a short illness at the age of 67.

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.”