A purse in excess of US$100,000 will be on offer for the 90th running of the Jamaica Derby slated for Caymanas Park this Saturday.

The race which will be run in honour of the first chairman of the Jamaica Racing Commission, the regulators of racing in Jamaica, Sir John Mordecai, has now become the richest thoroughbred racing event in the English-speaking Caribbean surpassing that of the Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup which is currently run for a purse of exactly US$100,000.

In local terms the Jamaica Derby, a Grade One race and second jewel of the Triple Crown for native-bred three-year-olds, will now be run for a purse of $9 million, the largest to date offered for a race and will be sponsored by communications giant LIME to the tune of $3 million which will go directly to the purses.

A total purse package of $16,685,000 will be on offer for the 12 races on the programme headlined by three high grade events sponsored by LIME — The Lime Juvenile Stakes, a race for native-bred two-year-old maidens and untried over 600 metres straight for a purse of $900,000 inclusive of $50,000 from the sponsor, United Bookmakers Association (UBA); the Lime Sprint (Gr 1), a handicap race for native-bred and imported three-year-olds and upward over 1,300 metres for purse of $1,500,000 inclusive of $120,000 from the UBA; and the Jamaica Derby restricted to native-bred three-year-olds to be run over the gruelling distance of 2,400 metres, of which LIME will contribute $2,825,000.

Wayne Lawrence, vice-president of marketing at Lime, made the announcement at a press launch at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston yesterday where CTL’s racing secretary also outlined racing details.

In fostering the partnership with CTL, which could invite an extended sponsorship period, Lawrence said: “We would get great visibility for our brand by linking it with an exciting sport which is growing in popularity with the Jamaican public. Lime therefore is delighted to open a new and exciting chapter to one of the nation’s oldest, much loved and sought after events.

“It is undoubtedly the Caribbean’s number one Derby and the most prestigious thoroughbred race in the region and LIME sees the event as another way in which it can make a solid and valid contribution to development of the sporting talents of the Jamaican people so as to maintain the tradition of prestige, pageantry and glory associated with the Derby, and looks forward to an exciting day for all concern.”

And for this, Lawrence warned fans, breeders, owners, grooms and jockeys to look out as LIME has a number of give-aways planned for the day.

Over the past 89 years some of the most magnificent thoroughbreds have galloped their way into the history books and warmed the hearts of the myriad of fans, who have either gone through the turnstiles at Knutsford Park and Caymanas Park and watched from a TV box or listened to the radio since 1921 from the first winner Buck Dancer to the last, He’s Really Ok.

The fervour, pageantry, tradition and the hope for glory will once again be re-enacted for the 90th time this Saturday when top contenders Al Fouzia, Jamaica 1,000 Guineas heroine, Jamaica 2,000 Guineas hero Mark My Word, Jamaica Oaks winner Gabiwitzo, Governor’s Cup winner Lifeisjustforliving and his runner-up Prince Rohan will meet in a grand showdown in what is the most sought after race in the Triple Crown Series with Al Fouzia and Mark My Word going for win number two in the series.