St. Kitts horses facing difficulties, days before the 30th running of the Sandy Lane Gold Cup

ZIZ News…March 2 2011 – Racing officials in Barbados are not in favour of horses from St. Kitts taking part in the prestigious annual Sandy Lane Gold Cup scheduled to take place this weekend.

The 30th running of this event is due to take place on Saturday at the Garrison Savannah.

According to an article in the Daily Nation Newspaper in Barbados, lawyers representing Kittitian owner Arthur Sharpe have warned of legal action should stewards of the BTC not allow the horses to compete on the grounds that St Kitts is not a recognised racing jurisdiction.

It further stated that DAILY NATION investigations have, however, revealed that the BTC board met on February 15 and it was unanimously agreed to approve the entry of the St Kitts-owned horses in a race with total prize money of $200 000.

Roger Forde is one of two Barbadian lawyers representing Sharpe, the other being Dr Adrian Cummins.

Forde said that once the Kittitian horses met the criteria and were selected to compete in the two main races on Gold Cup day, the registration fees were paid in stages.

“Up to now, the owner has incurred more than $100 000 in costs,” said Forde, explaining that the horses were already in the island.

Presently, two Kittitian horses have been selected for the 12-horse Gold Cup – one of which has also been selected for the Spa Sprint – another Sandy Lane-sponsored race. There is another St Kitts entry for the Spa Sprint according to the article in the Daily Nation.