By: Curtis Morton
A sizable contingent of horse owners, jockeys, trainers and general horse racing fans, showed up at an impressive awards ceremony and cocktail, held on the evening of Thursday 12th September.
The awards ceremony which was held as part of the week of activities held by the Nevis Turf and Jockey Club, as part of its celebrations of 45 years of existence, was held at the popular Occasions.
The brief bit impressive ceremony was chaired by Mc Clevon ‘MACKAY’ Tross who gave a basic history lesson of horse racing on Nevis, to set the stage for the remainder of the evening.
President of the club, Allister Thompson, took the opportunity to promote the activities for the remainder of the week of celebrations and congratulated the honourees for the evening, for their outstanding contributions to Horse racing on the island. He also warmly thanked Premier Vance Amory for graciously accepting to host the event.
The feature address was delivered by Premier Amory who spoke fondly of his days as a Starter at the races and noted that it was an exercise he thoroughly enjoyed. He thanked the men and women who would have made great sacrifices over the last 45 years to make horse racing one of the top sports on the island. He also congratulated the honorees for the night and pledged his Government’s fullest support towards the continued progress and development of the sport on the island.
The three honourees were then presented to the gathering. Their profiles were read and then they were presented with impressive trophies for their hard work.
The three honourees were:
Claire Yearwood—Boarded her Dad’s thoroughbred at just two and a half years of age and was a lover of horses ever since. She became a Director of the Nevis Turf and Jockey Club in 1990 and was very instrumental in soliciting sponsorship for the race meets.
She also led out in advertising the meets; developing a logo; creating the now established booklet which is still available on race day; creating a logo and writing articles on Horse racing in Nevis.
In her response, she noted that she was overwhelmed by the honour which was highly appreciated. She further stated that as one of the regular judges at the events, she was not going anywhere soon.
Rudy Browne—Thanked his mentor and fellow honouree, Wrenford MAS Thompson for getting him interested in horse racing and training him to be a jockey.
As a young Jockey, he rode LADY FRIDAY to 9 consecutive victories. Later as he gained weight, he had to quit as a Jockey and became a very successful trainer, starting with horses owned by Roosevelt FELT Daniel. He later became a board member of the club in 2002.
He later served as a renowned commentator at the races, including stints in St.Kitts and Antigua with his now famous catch phrase: “WHAT A RUSH,’ making waves wherever he went.
In his response, Rudy thanked the club for the signal honour and noted that it felt great to be recognized for his sterling contributions to the sport.
Wrenford MAS Thompson—Started his jockeying career at age 14 and actually won his very first race. He enjoyed a successful run with his famous horse LADY FRIDAY in achieving an amazing 18 victories.
He later became not only a trainer of horses but a trainer of youthful jockeys. Rudy Browne being one of the many who passed through his hands.
In his response, MAS, never one for long speeches, simply responded: ‘thank you all for this award.’
The gathering then socialized for the remainder of the evening, sampling the many delicacies available.
The next event will be a grand dance at the Caribbean Cove starting at 9pm on Saturday 14th and the big one—The Dan Bartlette Memorial Stakes, on Monday 16th September—National heroes day.