Horse racing is one of the most popular and spectacular sports in the world. Yet, its reputation of being the ‘Sport of Kings’, which implies exclusivity, along with its somewhat mysterious terminology, and its association with betting deters many from enjoying the thrills provided by an afternoon at the races.

Having visited some the world’s most famous racecourses from Manilla to Melbourne and from Mumbai to Dubai, I can say with confidence that there is no better place for a first-time race-goer than the Garrison Savannah in Barbados.

The Garrison Savannah in Barbados is a ‘people’s racetrack’. A place where you can rub shoulders with anyone from the local bus driver to the island’s Prime Minister. A place where betting plays only a minor part because of the Tote monopoly, and a place where the racing is right ‘in your face’ because the track is only three-quarters of a mile in circumference. You can almost reach out and touch the horses as they thunder past the grandstands.

Racing under rules at The Garrison Savannah was first staged in 1905, after the founding of the Barbados Turf Club, which still governs the sport. Over a century later race-goers can enjoy first-class facilities in the grandstands or picnic in the shade of the tall trees that surround the track. Infield visitors can tuck into local dishes such as pudding and souse and flying fish, and there’s even a play park for the children.

But before anyone can enjoy a day at the races, a lot of people are involved in getting these beautiful and nurtured horses from the stable to the track. Meet some of Barbados’ most successful and colourful horse racing characters…

The Breeder: Chally Jones
"What I call the maternity ward is right outside my bedroom window."

Racing legend Chally Jones enjoys being a horse breeder much more than he did being a champion jockey and trainer. “I don’t relate to people very well and horses don’t answer back. That’s why I defied convention by becoming a breeder while still a jockey,” he explains. Hugely successful as a breeder,  he believes in being hands-on in all aspects of his operation.

“I love the foaling side and have what I call the maternity ward right outside my bedroom window. Sometimes I’ll lie awake for three successive nights listening for the tell-tale sounds of a mare which is about to foal. If anything goes wrong, I’m out there in
a flash.”

As a jockey, Chally is one of only two Barbadians to have ridden 1000 winners. As a trainer, he has saddled four Barbados Derby winners and won three Gold Cups.

One of those Gold Cup heroes was Incitatus, which was bred by Chally and which later became the only horse bred in the English-speaking Caribbean to win graded races in North America. “Incitatus was special, but I’m very excited about another of mine named Areutalkintome, which has carried all before him this season and could be a world-beater,” he enthuses.

Chally enjoys matching the right stallions to the right mares and clearly loves the life he leads at his stud farm in a leafy glade in the parish of St Michael. “There are downsides, of course. The worst thing that can happen to a breeder is when one of the horses you have brought into the world dies. It’s like losing one of your family,” he says.

The groom: Denis Price
"School was somewhere to go between watching the horses galloping morning and evening."

Many of the grooms at the Garrison come from families steeped in horses or racing, but not Dennis Price. “My family had no involvement with horses but our home was two minutes walk from the track,” he explains. “I have magical childhood memories of watching the horses thundering around the exercise track as I made my way to and from school.”

When he was 18, Dennis approached trainer, Colin Browne, who gave him one horse to look after. “He was a lovely colt named Delveta. Caring for him cemented my belief that I wanted to spend my life with these beautiful animals. I can’t tell you how much I love them.”

Soon afterwards, Dennis landed a job at legendary Chally Jones’ stables, where he looked after some of the best horses in Barbados. “The highpoint came when I travelled to Trinidad with my pride and joy, Guest Of Honour, and saw him storm to victory in two Classic races,” he recalls.

Currently Dennis, now 35, works for Victor Cheeseman and has three horses under his care. “I start work at 5.30am when I brush and strap my horses and prepare them for morning exercise work or sometimes for a swim in the sea,” he explains. “Afterwards, they are bathed, dried and groomed. I apply hoof ointment and later their legs are thoroughly checked. Then they have their morning feed. I return at 2.30pm to groom them again before letting them have light exercise by walking the yard. Then it’s back to the stalls for another meal. Every minute of my working life is sheer pleasure.”

The Trainers: Clayton Greenidge
"Retirement? You must be joking. I’m still only 89 years old."

The bad news for all the other racehorse trainers in Barbados is that the word retirement does not appear in Clayton Greenidge’s dictionary. Remarkably he is still to be found at the Garrison most mornings, at a time when the average person’s alarm clock has not even got close to ringing.

In a glittering career spanning over half a century, Clayton has trained more than 200 winners, yet he still plans to continue plundering the big prizes at the Garrison even though his horses have, over the years, won all the major races run there.

“People keep asking me when I’m going to retire, but I’m still only 89 years old and I’ve enjoyed every minute of my time in racing,” says Clayton. “I love my horses and I got the thrill of a lifetime when the apple of my eye, Feet On Flames, won the 2005 Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup. I’ve been lucky also to have had a loving wife, Brenda, and a close-knit band of brothers around me all these years.”

Clayton’s brothers are a remarkable bunch. The youngest, Witney, known as the ‘baby’, is 76. Then comes Winston (79), Dougie (84) and Joe (86). Lionel, a half-brother, at 98, is the oldest.

“We are famous for our longevity,” laughs Clayton. “There’s no magic formula though. We’re all light drinkers and non-smokers and I believe that living by the beach, with all that sea air, has played a part too. ”

The Trainers: Liz Deane
"As soon as the horses canter to the start, I run away and hide in a back room!"

Picture the scene. The runners in the big race are being loaded into the starting gates and their trainers in the grandstand are raising their binoculars to focus on that magic moment when the starter presses his button and the horses explode into action.

Well, all except one trainer, that is, because Liz Deane, a former champion trainer in Barbados and one of the island’s biggest racing players, cannot bear to watch a feature race in which she has a runner, live. “I get myself in a real tizz before a big race,” she explains. “As soon as the horses canter down to the start, I run away and hide in a back room somewhere!”

Liz grew up with horses. Her father, Vere, was a keen horseman and played polo on the infield at the Garrison. As a youngster, she excelled at show-jumping and represented her country on several occasions. When Liz started training in her early twenties, she only had three horses in her stables.

“They all had bad feet or tendon or joint problems,” she recalls. “But learning to work with horses which had problems proved to be very useful later in my career. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed all that racing has to offer but my principal love has been for the wonderful horses I have had under my care.”

Liz’s tender loving care for her charges paid enormous dividends when Sandford Prince, one of the best horses ever to race in Barbados, fell gravely ill after winning the Gold Cup in 1989. The colt had contracted a disease which kills nine out of ten horses. Liz slept three nights in his barn and helped to nurse him to a miracle recovery. Sandford Prince went on to win two more Gold Cups. 

The Jockey: Andy Ward
"The smell of the horses was like an exotic perfume to me."

Two-time champion jockey Andy Ward has a keen sense of smell and it was his nose that got him into racing. “My school was next to Sir Charles Williams’ racing stables and I used to peep over the fence in the morning and luxuriate in that unique smell that surrounds horses – it was like an exotic perfume to me!” he recalls.

Knowing that he’d never be tall, Andy set out to be a jockey but it took him a while to get established. “My first winner was called High Hopes, which was appropriate because I was determined to be champion jockey one day,” he says.

Andy achieved that ambition in 1997 and repeated it in 2008 after he returned from a spell riding in Canada to join the powerful Lord Michael Taylor-Clifton Racing stable. He has ridden the winners of three Gold Cups and rates his first win on Peace Envoy in Barbados’ flagship race in 1999 as his finest moment. “That was the only time I have cried after riding a winner,” he recalls.

His worst moment came when he was replaced in the saddle by another jockey for the final race run by Coo Bird, one of the best horses ever to have graced the Garrison. “I’d ridden Coo Bird throughout his career on the track and felt as if I was married to him, so that was a real kick in the belly,” he explains.

Andy clearly loves his life in the saddle, although he says there is one major drawback. “It would be great to eat whatever I want but I have to be very careful because I like to keep my riding weight at around 113lb and my natural weight is 134lb.”

Lord Michael Taylor is Ward’s biggest fan. “He’s a great team player. He talks to the grooms and is excellent at giving post-race reports. Andy is sometimes criticised for not being hard enough on a horse during a race, but that horse may have cost several thousands of dollars so it makes sense not to punish it unnecessarily.”

The Owner: Lord Michael Taylor
"A nod in the right direction changed my life"

Lord Michael Taylor has been champion owner for the past two years and president of the Barbados Horse Racing Owners’ and Trainers’ Association.

An English businessman who fell in love with the Barbados racing scene some 30 years ago, Lord Taylor purchased his first good racehorse, Chadwick, in unusual circumstances – on the nod of a head and a swap involving very different sorts of horsepower.

“Whenever I visited the stables of my trainer, Ronnie Barnes, Chadwick would pop his head over the door of his box and nod his head furiously.  I began to feel that he was trying to tell me something.

“One day I drove into the yard in my sleek new Ford Executive car and Ronnie said he’d give anything to own such a vehicle. I offered it to him in exchange for Chadwick and some cash. He promptly accepted and Chadwick went on to win 10 races in my colours!”

Lord Taylor, who won back-to-back Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cups with Pure Temptation in 2008 and Daylight Express in 2009, is now excited about the launch of floodlit racing at the Garrison Savannah.

“Evening racing will bring a new dimension to the sport. Visitors will be able to come out for an evening of entertainment after a day on the beach and  locals will be able to come along after they finish work,”

Caribbean racing: When & where to go
Barbados
The Garrison Savannah
Stages 23 race meetings a year
Feature races: • March: Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup. • April: Digicel Barbados Guineas. • August: United Insurance Barbados Derby

Jamaica
Caymanas Park
Stages 82 race meetings a year
Feature races:  • June: Jamaica Derby. • November: Red Stripe Superstakes

Trinidad
Santa Rosa Park
Stages 46 race meetings a year
Feature races: • September: Trinidad Derby. • December: Trinidad Gold Cup

Puerto Rico
Regular meetings at Hipodromo Camarero

St Kitts
New racetrack opening in 2010

For coming racedays at the Garrison Savannah see www.barbadosturfclub.com for full details.