TOMORROW’S SANDY LANE Gold Cup will go ahead as planned, but the outcome could still be subject to court action.
In any event, prominent Canadian racehorse owner Eugene Melnyk believes the Barbados Turf Club (BTC) is making a “terrible mistake” in allowing the Kittitian horses to compete on the race card, since, according to him, it posed a risk to the jockeys, spectators and horses.
Moreover, he said, it could put the BTC’s status in jeopardy.
The Appellate Stewards, the highest decision-making body of the BTC, met for more than two hours yesterday to hear an appeal made by Melnyk, fellow horse owner Sir David Seale and trainer Stephen Bynoe, after their initial objection to prevent the Kittitian horses from competing was earlier this week thrown out by the steward’s body overseeing tomorrow’s event.
The three had objected on the grounds that St Kitts was not a recognized horse racing jurisdiction, and so the two St Kitts-registered horses for the Gold Cup and the one entered in the Sandy Lane Sprint Stakes & Trophy should not be allowed to compete.
The WEEKEND NATION understands the four Appellate Stewards, who included former Chief Justice Sir Denys Williams, deferred their decision to the end of the month.
That deferral effectively prevented either of the two sides – those representing Arthur Sharpe, owner of the Kittitian horses, or Melnyk, Sir David and Bynoe – from immediately heading to the law courts to seek an injunction that could have put the $200 000 annual event in limbo.
The Appellate Stewards who met at the BTC’s offices at the Garrison Savannah yesterday evening were tight-lipped, the brief comment from attorney-at-law and Appellate Steward Mark Goodridge being: “No change to current position.”
Neither Sir David nor Sir Richard Cheltenham, QC, who represented Sharpe in the absence of Roger Forde, QC, could be reached for comment.
However, in a telephone interview last night, Melnyk said that while he would abide by the decision of the Appellate Court in the interest of letting the race go on, he could not help but say in his “most straightforward way” that the BTC was making a “terrible mistake”.
“The horses, the spectators and the jockeys are at risk. Coming from an unrecognized turf authority, we don’t know much about the history of these horses; don’t know if they are properly trained for the gates; about their ratings, or anything like that.
Melnyk dismissed suggestions that it was a case of he and Sir David crying foul just because the Kittitian entries might have meant that two horses – one owned by Sir David and the other by him – would not be able to compete in the Gold Cup and the Spa Sprint.
Had the Appellate Stewards ruled against the entry of the Kittitian horses, Melnyk’s Emerald Crescent, the first reserve, would have gained a place in the field for the Spa Sprint event. Sir David’s Reward Me, which was also a first reserve, only got into the Gold Cup field after Sharpe and his connections opted to run Al Portador in the Sprint instead of the premier 1 800-metre event.
“It is unfortunate that my horse will not get a shot, but I am a good sportsman and I still have a good chance with Safety Zone in the Gold Cup. I would not want to disappoint the many fans who have come here to see the big race,” Melnyk said.