Although the way has been paved for horses from St Kitts and Nevis to participate in this year’s Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup, none of the owners has taken up the offer.
Last Saturday morning at the offices of the Barbados Turf Club (BTC), the stewards met and suspended the relevant rules which had blocked entries from St Kitts.
However, when entries closed yesterday, there were no overseas entries, as Trinidadian horse Joezel had also been withdrawn.
MIDWEEK SPORT understands that the colt bled after racing last Friday at Santa Rosa Park, but Lasix, which is used to prevent bleeding, is prohibited in Barbados.
Last year, the Kittitians’ participation in the Caribbean’s finest horse race came under scrutiny, as an objection was lodged by BTC president Sir David Seale, trainer Stephen Bynoe and Canadian owner Eugene Melnyk on the grounds that St Kitts was an unrecognized racing jurisdiction.
After consultation with the relevant parties the race went ahead under protest. The first horse past the post, Show Me The Money, was later disqualified and Zoom awarded the race.
At a post-race meeting the BTC’s appellate stewards ruled the Kittitian horses were ineligible to race at the Garrison Savannah.
The contingent, spearheaded by Arthur Sharpe, then travelled to Trinidad and Tobago on December 3 to contest the Caribbean’s biggest race day the US$650 000 Caribbean Nations Racing Challenge at Santa Rosa Park. Three of the four Kittitian horses entered won their races.
Also at Saturday’s meeting, speculation was laid to rest as to which country Dancin David would be representing, as the Sir David Seale owned United States-bred animal will be competing on a Barbados ticket.
