In honor of St. John’s Carnival, Clinton Phipps Racetrack on St. Thomas will be hosting the inaugural St. John Festival Cup this Saturday, a surefire way to bring more recognition for Love City during the ongoing festival season.
Part of Saturday’s seven-race card at Phipps, the St. John Festival Cup will be the featured sixth race, with a purse of $5,500. Battling it out in the one-mile race will be Voice of Faith, Diablo’s Fire, Sweet Sight, Some Splendor and Tortola’s Lake Texoma.
"Throughout the years there have been horse owners and trainers from St. John, but they were never formally recognized, so we decided to do something to honor them," said Wayne "Bobby" Hodge, president of Millennium Racing Inc., the track’s temporary promoters.
"Just like there are similar sponsored races during carnivals on St. Thomas and St. Croix, we thought why not establish a festival race in the name of St. John, since we have one or two horse owners over there who we would like to highlight and show them that they are an integral part of the racing here in the territory."
Millennium has been the track’s temporary promoter since last October and has been working alongside Housing, Parks and Recreation until a permanent company is selected this October. Until then, Hodge said that Millennium, which is vying to be the track’s permanent promoter, will be doing as much as it can to promote horse racing in the territory.
While Hodge said Diablo’s Fire might be the favorite in the St. John Cup, he also felt strongly about Tortola’s Lake Texoma.
"He’s a good horse, and chances are he could win the race," Hodge said. "The last two times he ran he didn’t win, but it seemed like maybe those weren’t his days. But he was off for a few months, and he’s just coming back, so I think he has the ability to win the race."
Hodge also pointed to the 7.5-furlong fourth race, with a post time of 3:30 p.m., as an exciting event for spectators.
"This is our Mares and Fillies Race," Hodge said. "Here we have one of the contenders, Rocky Miswaki, who ran an excellent race on St. Croix weeks ago — she came on the Saturday, ran the Sunday and on a heavy track, too. The ground was wet and sloppy, but she showed her strength and ability and her pace by running between the horses to win the race. So, I think she is a good choice."
Facing off against Rocky Miswaki for the $4,000 purse will be Pasosdefango, Glorious Memory from Tortola, Pauls Gift making her debut out of St. Croix, and Moments Away.
Race number three also looks promising, with Tortola newcomer Really Uptown, along with Starship Voyage, Gallant Ruler and Groomsman out of St. Croix going six furlongs for a purse of $4,400.
Hodge said Millennium only recently finalized this weekend’s card, which left little time for seeking out advertising and sponsors, but said he hopes that this would become an annual event that will be more promoted in the future.
Hodge said that if chosen as the track’s permanent promoter, Millennium will look to create a more competitive horse racing circuit between St. Thomas, St. Croix and Tortola.
There are also talks of creating a local Triple Crown, with races run on St. Thomas on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, on St. Croix during the Agricultural Fair and then around Easter on Tortola.
"We have a condition sheet out for the Triple Crown race, but that hasn’t been approved by all three promoters," Hodge said. "But it is in the works so that the horses can compete more regularly and we can promote more exciting races."
The rest of the race card is as follows:
Race: 1 6 Furlong Class D Purse: $3,500 Time: 2:00pm
1. Winning Actor 118lbs.
2. El Rollo 118lbs.
3. Stop Playn’ 118lbs.
4. Tax Master 116lbs
Race: 2 6 Furlong Native Bred Purse: $3,300 Time: 2:30pm
1. More Current 114lbs.
2. Supa Pop 120lbs.
3. Dehroadismine 114lbs.
4. Love City Slew 116lbs.
Race: 3 6 Furlong Open Purse: $4,400 Time: 3:00pm
1. Really Uptown (DEBUT) (TOR) 121lbs.
2. Starship Voyage 118lbs.
3. Gallant Ruler 116lbs.
4. Groomsman (STX) 121lbs.
Race: 4 7 1/2 Furlong Mares & Fillies Purse: $4,000 Time: 3:30pm
1. Rocky Miswaki 118lbs.
2. Pasosdefango 115lbs.
3. Glorious Memory (TOR) 118lbs.
4. Pauls Gift (DEBUT) (STX) 117lbs.
5. Moments Away 117lbs.
Race: 5 1 Mile Class C & D Purse: $3,800 Time: 4:00pm
1. Eastern Seaboard 117lbs.
2. Old Town 117lbs.
3. Tigerglider 115lbs.
4. Memuneh (DEBUT) (TOR) 115lbs.
5. Duke of Pearl 119lbs.
St. John Festival Cup
Race: 6 1 Mile Class A & B Purse: $5,500 Time: 4:45pm
1. Voice of faith 118lbs.
2. Diablo’s fire 121lbs.
3. Sweet Sight 116lbs.
4. Sum Splendor 116lbs.
5. Lake Texoma (TOR) 121lbs.
Race: 7 1 Mile Class D Purse: $3,500 Time: 5:15pm
1. Khun Dan 118lbs.
2. Lobito 118lbs.
3. Dashing Pirate 118lbs.
4. Charlie the Runner 118lbs.
5. Meeses Two Pieces 118lbs.
