Caymanas Park set to undergo major repairs

CAYMANAS Park is set to undergo major refurbishing works within months after operators of the horse-racing facility, Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), this week started a process of approval through government-owned Caymanas Track Limited (CTL) from whom the 196-acre property was acquired on a 30-year lease in 1997.

Among the proposed works, estimated at $70 million, is rehabilitation of the property’s older well, resurfacing of the racetrack and restoration of the equine pool.

Solomon Sharpe, chairman, SVREL, who accompanied CTL’s chief executive officer, Errol Robinson, on a tour of the property, explained  that  its ongoing upgrades at the  racetrack are intended to address “operational and  infrastructure concerns in a sustainable manner and to help ensure the long-term  strength and resilience of Caymanas Park”.

“The request forms part of SVREL’s ongoing commitment to investing in horse racing and improving the product for all stakeholders across the racing ecosystem.

“We built a new well in 2022. However, within a month of commissioning that well, the old well had issues and became dysfunctional. We are on the last leg of that rehabilitation programme, which will benefit the athletes, 1100 animals needing fresh and clean water 24 hours per day.

“We saw the signs and deliberately built the new well in a separate area, which worked out perfectly because the trucks were able to reach the racetrack quicker,” Sharpe pointed out.

Resurfacing of the racetrack, last undertaken in August 2023, could get a three-year anniversary makeover.

“Once we get permission, we will start procuring material from St Elizabeth, hopefully to start sometime in August, working with the consultant Steven Wood with whom we have been in constant engagement,” said Sharpe.

The equine pool, an alternative method of exercising horses, whose physicality can’t stand up to pounding on the racetrack, is set to undergo “major rehabilitation”, Sharpe pointed out.
“Work on the pool could also start in August. The engineers are eyeing a completion date of eight weeks after the start of repairs. However, maintenance of the pool, as it relates to the cleanliness of horses being brought to swim, will be one of the issues to be addressed with horsemen, as well as a review of the rate, which stood at $80 per horse,” he stated.