ST CATHERINE, Jamaica— According to the promoters, the 2024 staging of the ultra-rich Mouttet Mile (invitational) Race Day will be a bigger and better spectacle.

The improvements of the event, which is set to take place on December 7, were announced during the launch at the AC Hotel on Tuesday.

The feature race on the day will be the third running Mouttet Mile— a Grade One race for three-year-olds and up over one mile (1,600m)— has become Caymanas Park’s marquee event. The purse for the 2023 edition was US$150,000, which was the largest purse for a single racing event in the English-speaking Caribbean at the time.

Riding high on the spectacular success of the Mouttet Mile’s second running last December, organisers have revealed a staggering and historic US$250,000 purse for this year’s third staging — the largest ever yet again.

“We met our objectives and we are happy. So far, most of our sponsors from last year have come back on board, and most of them are talking about bigger numbers in terms of sponsorships,” said Gary Peart, executive chairman of Supreme Ventures Limited.

“The director of the Jamaica Tourist Board [Donovan White] indicated that the value of the media recognition that they got was $90 million. I mean, his sponsorship was less than five per cent of that figure, and so I am happy about that,” Peart added.

Meanwhile, three changes have been made to the conditions of the 2024 Mouttet Mile.

The three changes are; ten starting stalls will be made available for horses domiciled in Jamaica before January 1, 2024; six starting stalls will be allocated to horses not domiciled in Jamaica before January 1, 2024; and the winners of the following races will gain automatic entry in the Mouttet Mile – The Jamaica Derby, The Jamaica Cup, The Philip Feanny Gold Cup, and The Port Royal Sprint.

The 2023 Mouttet Mile had 12 stalls designated for horses domiciled in Jamaica before January 1, 2023, and four for horses not domiciled in Jamaica before January 1, 2023.

—Ruddy Allen