Captain Kirit Chouhan (left) presenting the Sandy Lane Gold Cup to Randall Wilkie, General Manager of Sandy Lane, as Angela Simpson, Director of the Barbados Turf Club looks on during a ceremony yesterday at the Grantley Adams International Airport.
SANDY LANE GOLD CUP IS HERE!
THE countdown to the Eastern Caribbean’s most prestigious horse race entered its final phases yesterday afternoon as the Sandy Lane Gold Cup arrived on the island.
As has been the case over the past three decades, the eight-carat Gold Cup was flown in from the United Kingdom nestled in the cockpit of a British Airways flight.
This year will mark 38 years of the Gold Cup and the 23rd year Sandy Lane has been sponsoring the event.
Slated for March 2 at the historic Garrison Savannah, General Manager of Sandy Lane, Randall Wilkie, who was there to receive the Cup on the tarmac, said that it is now one of the most anticipated race days not only here in Barbados, but worldwide.
“From its inception, the aim was to put Barbados on the horse racing map and to encourage horses from the other Caribbean countries. But it was soon realised that this was going to be an international event once there were horses bred in the USA, with trainers and jockeys from the UK and Ireland involved,” Wilkie said.
Also on hand to welcome the Gold Cup was Risha Daniel, public relations manager at Sandy Lane; Rosette Peirce, CEO of the Barbados Turf Club; and Angela Simpson, Director of BTC.
To date Sandy Lane has donated over $5.2 million dollars in prize money.
The buzz as to who this year’s winner will be is all over social media, according to BTC director Angela Simpson.
“Will it be a Creole who will beat the imported horses, or will it be our president Sir David Seale, going to win his eighth Gold Cup?”
Ken Ramsay will not be coming this year but said he will be back in 2020. He revealed that despite winning some of the top races in the world, the Sandy Lane Gold Cup is the most prestigious he has won and the most enjoyable day. (CG)