2016 was ‘full of challenges’- Patsy C. Lake
In an exclusive interview with Virgin Islands News Online, on Tuesday December 27, 2016, Lake said one of the main difficulties that the association faced was to come up with the purses for races.
“It sure was full of challenges, everything is challenging,” said Mrs Lake, who had announced she was quitting after a year but then changed her mind after due to “popular demand”.
Financial constraints
“We continue to plough through and see if we can get money for the upkeep of the purses, that is one of the biggest challenges because Government members are the main sponsors, other than that, the money comes from the gate,” she explained.
To put on a horse race is over $30,000 which is squarely for the purses.
The VIHOA president and horse owner mentioned that the association had undertaken various activities, such as the honouree luncheons, with the hope that they would also make some money, “but they didn’t bring in a lot of money.”
They also undertook a car raffle fundraising initiative which in her opinion, didn’t bring in much either after the $32,000 that the car cost them.
“It fell short. I mean we were able to pay for the car, which was not donated. The car was paid for from the proceeds of the sale and then whatever was left was what came to us, I don’t have an exact figure on exactly what we made, but we continually paying bills.”
Achievements
According to the association, some of their notable achievements include getting a permanent tractor at Ellis Thomas Downs, repair of the exterior fencing, fixing the leaking roof of the grandstands, continuous maintenance of the interior and exterior and repairing of the track conditioner.
Other accomplishments included the purchase of an 8 stall racing gate, the raffle of the Audi Q3 SUV to raise funds for the new starting gate, six successful races, 4 honouree luncheons, preparation of a new plan by Futura Tracks of California for the extension of Ellis Thomas Downs, and the presentation of a proposal to move forward pari-mutuel wagering at Ellis Thomas Downs by the parent company that is investing in the tracks in the US Virgin Islands.
Pari-mutuel wagering could bail out the sport
Lake informed that in November of this year, the association presented a proposal for the pari-mutuel wagering to Government and, “We are hoping to have further meetings, the government hasn’t made any commitments, they said they are going to look at the proposal and they are going to get back to us.”
Many perceive that if pari-mutuel wagering gets the green light, the sport would be able to stand on its own two feet financially.
She noted that the gate which is the largest in the VI was another great achievement and running seven horses in one race was history for the territory on Boxing day.
Expectations for 2017
So far, Lake said persons can look forward to more races, particularly the closest one, the first leg of the Virgin Islands Classic race on January 22, which the association is hoping will be another big event.
“We are hoping to have the support of the public. It’s the public really to grant the support to all these things, by their attendances,” Lake said.
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