The thunder of hooves, accompanying adrenaline rush, and roar of the crowd are set to electrify the Jamaican horse racing scene once more as live action is set to resume at Caymanas Park on November 15.

Solomon Sharpe, executive chairman of Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), which manages and promotes live horse racing in the country, says the break is essential to carry out restoration work after Hurricane Melissa cut a deadly path through sections of the island on October 28.

The previous staging of races at the park was on October 25.

Sharpe said he expects the period of inactivity to provide stakeholders with ample opportunity to prepare, even as SVREL assesses and repairs damage to general and technological infrastructure to facilitate smooth operations at the St Catherine-based venue.

It has been a case of all hands on deck, according to the SVREL boss.

“When we had the meeting on Saturday [November 1] the horsemen present were understanding — and co-operative — [as to] why everything had to be the way it is,” Sharpe told the Jamaica Observer.

“This is a livelihood for the surrounding communities, this is a livelihood for thousands of horsemen who ply their trade and so we are doing our best to pull together the entire, full 360 [degrees] of the racing product. Couple of our breeders would have suffered immense damage like Orange Valley Estate [in Trelawny] and I am sure the smaller farms like Success Farm in St Elizabeth would have been affected,” he added.

The revised schedule for November promises to be an exciting one, with several high-profile events lined up. The United Racehorse Trainers’ Association of Jamaica is to kick off the racing on November 15, followed by the Jamaica Cup on November 16. The Racehorse Aftercare Trophy and the Alsafra Trophy are slated for November 22 and 23, respectively, while the Jockeys’ Agent Race day is set to bring the month to a close on November 29.

Sharpe pointed out that the venue’s road to recovery will not be easy. Caymanas Park sustained significant damage to stables. Some areas on the property remained without electricity up to Sunday evening. However, the racetrack is in excellent condition.

“I would say that Caymanas Park’s property right now is about 60 per cent. We still have some issues with electricity. There’s a fair amount of tree cuttings that would have happened to clear away the spaces to make provision for the reconnection of the wires. We are trying to get resumption of full power soon. The stables that are affected we have to go to procurement to get all the material that is required. That process will start next week and we will get to work right after,” Sharpe explained.

He highlighted the importance of restoring Off Track Betting (OTB) establishments.

While simulcast racing signals are back online, he said only about half of OTBs are currently operational.

“Simulcast racing is up. All the signals are back up but we still only have about 50 per cent of our OTBs are shaken up. The racing surface was graded on Sunday and all the rain that we got recently, the racing surface is in immaculate condition. Horses are currently exercising on the track. We had over 300 horses that exercised Sunday morning,” Sharpe noted.

Trainer Patrick Smellie weighed in on the return of live racing, acknowledging the challenges that the promoters face.

“It is my view that live racing could have started earlier, but then they [SVREL] are the ones that are looking at funding the races. What I have seen is that a lot of their OTBs are down, and so they are probably waiting until they get some form of connectivity. I understand that there’s a business side of it,” Smellie said.

While noting the damage to sections of the property, trainer Roy Matthews endorsed SVREL’s decision.

“I would have put it to the date that SVREL [did] which is the November 15… this [break] gives us time to prepare,” he said.

“Anthony Nunes’ stable got a little jerk up, the stands got a little jerk, as well as one of the broadcasting boxes which needs some fixing up. Many stables are good, including mine. The only issue was getting wet as there were some leaking through the roofs in some of the stables as the place really needs some fixing up,” Matthews noted.

SHARPE… I would say that Caymanas Park’s property right now is about 60 per cent

SMELLIE… they are probably waiting until they get some form of connectivity

MATTHEWS… this [break] gives us time to prepare