Saint Lucia Track to Stage Initial Races in December

The Royal Saint Lucia Turf Club will stage its first races, including the US$150,000 Pitons Cup, on the Caribbean island Dec. 13—Saint Lucia's National Day.

The launch will be the first public event at the turf club's new racing facilities, which are part of the Pearl of the Caribbean integrated development spearheaded by China Horse Club founder and Chairman Teo Ah Khing.

The 1 1/8-mile Pitons Cup, named after the island's iconic mountains, will be modeled after the Pegasus World Cup (G1) at Gulfstream Park. Twelve slots will be sold for US$20,000 each with the purchasers then providing horses to fill the starting gate.

Besides funding the $150,000 purse, each owner who purchases a $20,000 racing slot will receive a 3-year-old in training, which will be automatically eligible to run in the US$20,000 Helen of the West Stakes at seven furlongs on the Pitons Cup undercard. The 3-year-olds currently are being prepared in Florida by Brandon and Alexandra Rice, said Eden Harrington, vice president of the CHC, which is advising and assisting the Turf Club.

"Saint Lucians have been looking forward to having this international racetrack and an event of this nature," said Saint Lucia Prime Minister Allen Michael Chastenet. "We are readying to welcome race fans and enthusiasts from around the world who will be getting the Saint Lucian experience for the first time.

"The Pitons Cup launches Saint Lucia's entrance into the world of Thoroughbred racing and as a government we are encouraged and excited by the opportunities it creates for our people ... Great moments in racing will be made in Saint Lucia," said Chastenet, who initially tipped the announcement during a winner's circle appearance with Mr. Teo in June at Royal Ascot.

The races will coordinate with the Chinese Equine Cultural Festival 2019—a "lifestyle and racing event" the CHC has organized and run for several years, including at Singapore's Kranji Racecourse in 2015 and at its own leased racing facilities near Ordos in China's Inner Mongolia province in 2016 and 2017.

As part of the CHC's community involvement, Harrington said, "The Pitons Cup sets the tone for the Royal Saint Lucia Turf Club and its aspirations to be both a significant contributor across the Caribbean and an innovator within the racing landscape."

Transportation and quarantine issues historically have been troublesome for Caribbean racing initiatives but Harrington said the St. Lucia Turf Club is working to address those and smooth the way for an international field for the Pitons Cup.

"Royal Saint Lucia Turf Club will assist in the coordination of transportation," he said. "Quarantine, for U.S.-based horses, is 14 days in the United States and 7 days in Saint Lucia. Across Caricom countries (Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados) the quarantine period is a collective seven days between the 'home country' and Saint Lucia."

He said the Turf Club hopes the Pitons Cup "has traction in the U.S., where there are some wonderfully passionate and successful owners and syndicates who are not only driven by a desire to succeed, but who are also motivated by the adventure of this sport, the chance to do something that others have not done before."

The major international race in the Caribbean currently is the Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup, run for the 38th time this year. That race does attract international participation, primarily from Ken and Sarah Ramsey, whose horses have won several renewals, and from international media. Saint Lucia is less than 100 miles northwest of Barbados in the eastern Caribbean.