Christmas horse racing tradition continues
While the anticipated showdown between Premier's Cup winner Captain Slew and Sweet Grass Creek is off because the Captain came up lame, Christmas season horse racing will continue full fledged on Sunday with a series of exciting races. Post time is 1:30 p.m. at the Ellis Thomas Downs in Sea Cows Bay.
After their exciting race earlier this month that ended in a dead heat, anticipation was building for this race and the start of a dynamic rivalry between Captain Slew and Sweet Grass Creek, before bone chips knocked the Captain to the sidelines. Despite this, the five races on the card featuring local horses will be just as exciting because they are all evenly matched. The Racing Secretary has not been sleeping on the job. Congrats.
"I'm looking forward to a very competitive day," BVI Horse Racing Association president Perry Penn said. "I always insist on competitive races and fan support, so I'm looking for them to come out."
Die hard fans will point to several races on the five race card that they want to see as their favorites run. With races in St. Croix on Boxing Day, the race was moved to Sunday as many of the same jockeys who contest the St. Croix event, will be mounting at the Ellis Thomas Downs.
Penn said he's happy to see the infusion of local horses since this year has been a challenging one and at one point, they had to rely on U.S. Virgin Islands horses to fill a card. "I think its good for the business, good for the territory and good for the sport with the local horses because now we can do our thing without having the foreign horses coming in to make a card," he said. "Don't get me wrong now. With the U.S. Virgin Islands horses, it creates that much more excitement and it gives us that many more horses per race."
The card: Race 1. 5 Furlongs; Shine, Go Go Girl and Arabian Dinner. Race 2: 7 Furlongs: Camelo Twist, Slick Sword and Cefeiro (debut). Race 3: 7 Furlongs, Fabulous Cherokee, Personal Hearing and Capital Charm. Race 4: 7 Furlongs, Brass Flash, Rey Miestro Jr. and L.A. Fame. Race 5 Feature race: 1-Mile: Bird Sweet Grass Creek, Charm. Moonlighting Event and Heisinmypocket.
Track season on the horizon
The BVI Athletics Association kicks off its 2009 season with a Development Track and Field Series, starting on January 3. Field Events will include the Long Jump (U-13) and Shot Put (U-17 Open).
Track events will include the 600 meters (17-Open); 200 meters Hurdles (U-17 & U-20); 60 meters (U-9 & 11) and the 150 meters (U-13 Open).
The Association expects to name its 2008 male and female Athletes of the Year in three divisions as well as launch its Athlete of the Meet Program. Ahead of the competitions, a meeting for Technical Officials is set for 6 p.m. on Dec 29 at the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports.
Other meets are scheduled for January 17 & 31; February 7, 21 & 28 and March 7.