While horses are naturally the focus of thoroughbred racing at Caymanas Park, it is the ground beneath them that is considered one of the main elements contributing to their success. After all, it is the quality, fairness and consistency of the racing surface that can make the difference between life and death for horses.

Racehorse owners and trainers want to race their horses on a good surface that will minimise the risk of their valuable investment getting injured.

All stakeholders in racing clamour for well-groomed and manicured ovals.

The man with that responsibility at Caymanas Park is Everton ‘Puggy’ Henry, who has been the track superintendent for 22 years.

“I dropped into this position by accident. I came to Caymanas Park to work as a mechanic, but curiosity led me to my current position.

“At that time Douglas Rousseau was the track superintendent, and every time I got a chance I would go out on the track with him to see what he was doing, and I grew to like it.

“As fate would have it, I played my cards well and I am here at the Park as the current track superintendent,” Henry shared.

Henry said that his main function as track superintendent is to achieve a consistent, safe, and fair racing surface.

“It sounds simple, and most people assume that it is, but it’s a seven-day a week job.

“We have to work all week ensuring that the racing surface is in good condition. It is very challenging…every day is a challenge as the majority of our workers spend a large portion of the night preparing the surface for the next day.

“When we prepare the racing surface for exercise in the mornings, we then have to hear what the jockeys, trainers or owners say about a specific part of the surface which may have caused some issues, and we have to go and check it out,” Henry told the

Complete Racing Guide.

Henry explained the procedures in maintaining a high-quality racing surface.

“The racing surface is prepared by raking the surface, watering it, but it all depends on the time of day in which we do these things.

“The humidity of the day determines how we prepare the racing surface, and at Caymanas Park our track is slanted – it is uneven.

“Many factors can affect the daily track condition; some obvious and some not so obvious. The weather as well as the pounding of hooves, employees, day-to-day traffic, soil composition, among other considerations, all affect the condition of the racetrack.

“Generally speaking, we try to monitor soil composition so as to maintain greater control of the racing surface.

“Monitoring includes testing the soil, adding water to it or simply doing whatever is necessary.

“The primary objective is to provide the horses’ hooves with a cushioned surface, digging up the surface of the track, rolling it back down before watering, and harrowing,” he explained.