St. Lucia Hopes Pitons Cup Serves as Catalyst

The Royal Saint Lucia Turf Club kicks off an ambitious effort to bring international horse racing to the Caribbean island with a five-race program Dec. 13 featuring the $150,000 Pitons Cup.

The race, a "buy a slot" event like the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at Gulfstream Park, drew interest from U.S. horsemen, and the gate will be filled with horses with American racing experience, albeit well down the class ladder from stakes level, as slots sell for $20,000.

The point of the exercise, however, according to both local government and RSLTC officials, is not to compete with the blockbuster events of world racing but, rather, to create an exciting sporting event for Saint Lucians and a valuable tourist attraction that will help spur economic investment on the island.

The track itself is the first-stage product of the Pearl of the Caribbean, an integrated international development project spearheaded by DSH Caribbean Star Ltd, part of the business empire built by Teo Ah Khing, founder of the China Horse Club.

China Horse Club has served as adviser to the RSLTC in jump-starting the racing program. The races are run under the banner of the Caribbean Equine Cultural Festival, similar to the Chinese Equine Cultural Festival, which has included CHC-sponsored races in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, for two years and previously in Singapore.

"This is a positive story," Eden Harrington, executive director of the RSLTC and vice president of the China Horse Club, told BloodHorse in the run-up to the event. "A story about new beginnings, new opportunities, racing reaching a new audience. It's a chance for new heroes to be made and for young boys and girls in a new country to fall in love with a sport and to cheer idols."

And St. Lucia prime minister Allen Chastanet emphasizes the economic potential beyond racing.

"The horse race is a catalyst," he said at an October event for local media. "It is the star attraction, being the magnet to attract new investment in Saint Lucia. All of a sudden, the real estate opportunities will unfold.

"We are here to celebrate the fact that what people think could not have happened has actually happened. The horses are here, the track is here," Chastanet said.

The Turf Club, in support of racing development, also has initiated a course of instruction, the Winston Trim Training Programme, and an associated curriculum that already has produced a crop of grooms.

Twelve slots originally were offered, but the Pitons Cup will go with 10.

Posts, horses, and slot owners are: 1. Oriental Crown, Wilfred Acham and Merlin Samlalsingh; 2. Minegold, Three Diamonds Farm and Queen Lily Stable; 3. Run Bayou, Freedman Brothers, Newgate Farm, and Telluride; 4. Candrasa, WinStar Farm; 5. Casting Crowns, Taylor Made Farm; 6. K Kash, Madaket Stables,Todd Pletcher, and Elite Sales; 7. Donna's True Bling, Dan Schafer; 8. Trading Cash, Fasig-Tipton Sales and Bluewater Sales; 9. Colonel's Pride, David A. Bernsen and Rockingham Ranch; 10. Rock Creek, Stephan Narinesingh.

The 10 horses, according to Equibase records, all were trained and/or claimed in late 2018 by either Robertino Diodoro or Karl Broberg at prices ranging from $5,000-$8,000. None of the horses have raced in 2019.

Royal Saint Lucia Turf Club veterinarian Dr. Belinda Rose said the club's races will be run Lasix-free and with "thresholds in accordance with the International Federation of Horseracing Authority guidelines on the use of medications such as bisphosphonates and cobalt."

Among the 40 horses shipped from Florida to Saint Lucia for the day's racing are several unraced 3-year-olds, including 10 who will be "gifted"—one to each slot holder in the Pitons Cup. Each of those horses will be guaranteed an entry on an undercard race, the $20,000 Helen of the West Indies at 7 furlongs. Those horses then can be retained by the new owner or sold, the only stipulation being the horse be kept in St. Lucia for one year to support an ongoing racing program.

The "gift" horses are by some notable sires including Twirling Candy , Liaison , Tizway, Poseidon's Warrior, Paynter , and Gio Ponti .

There are plans to add a grandstand and other amenities to the facility, but the inaugural Pitons Cup will be run with VIP fans housed in a tented marquee and arrangements to handle as many as 6,000 other fans.