What They Say !

1 When did your career start as a trainer?

I came in the racing industry by accident. Somebody, Timothy took me one day to buy motor vehicle parts and the next thing I knew he took me down to Caymanas Park because I didn’t like racing as I was into more into motorcycle sport. It happened that I won 65 pounds on the day and then after that the addiction started and I began to come down to Caymanas Park regularly and got more and more involved. I started out as an assistant to Ren Gonzalves in 1968. I was there with him winning the trainer’s championship in 1970 and 1971 and eventually I got my licence in 1975.

2 Which horse was your first winner?

My first winner was with a horse by the name of Charisma but it wasn’t all that exciting for me like with most other people when I won my first race because in Ren [Gonzalves] days we did everything; we won five races this week and next week we won five races again. Any horse we got we won two and three races with that horse, so the excitement like some people would have wasn’t there for me as I was leading in horses all the time and so I knew what winning felt like. But I was glad to know that I won a race. Charisma won going one mile and a half (12 furlongs or 2,400m) as in those days they ran mileand-a-half and two mile races.

3 Which horse was your longest odds winner?

Sandino was my longest odds winner sometime in the 1970s. I left Jamaica the Saturday morning Sandino was going to race to visit Russia and I asked a gentleman by the name of Logan to saddle for me. I didn’t come back till about 24 days after and it was then I heard that Sandino had won as at that time you didn’t have communications like now. I think that the odds he won at was like over 800-1 and I think that is still the record up to now.

4 Which is the best horse you have trained?

I have had some decent horses over the years but I would say the best one would be Dye Job. Hot Pants was another good one as well; I got her (Hot Pants) when she was five-years-old and I won about seven races with her. Hot Pants couldn’t go more than three furlongs and the first time I ran her, she won. Well, Dye Job, I got her from America when she was a yearling. I ran her as a two-year-old and the first time out, I wasn’t satisfied with the run as she came home in a disappointing fourth place. The second time out, she won a six-furlong race in 1:12.0. The handicappers gave her 129 lb and she won in a time of 1:04.0 going five and a half furlongs and although I was angry with the handicapping, I was pleased with the win. From that day, Dye Job was carrying weight in her back, and I think I won about 12 races with her.

5 Which is the best horse you have seen race at Caymanas Park? 6 Who influenced your career the most?

The reason why I had stayed in racing was that I didn’t like the condition of the grooms because they were living like cane piece and banana piece workers and to me as a St Mary man, I wanted to look out for the hardworking grooms who were not getting the right treatment. There were no accommodations and facilities for them, so Ren [Gonzalves] and myself formed the Groom’s Association and revived the Trainer’s Association and we formed a good Owner’s Association. Ren Gonzalves has been the most influential person in my career.