UPDATE - Good Prospecting shuts down critics, next stop Premier’s Cup [Photoslide Included]
Prior to his major win, the stallion’s race record was in shambles. He had failed to place as one of the top three finishers at the recently concluded Virgin Islands Triple Crown.
The seven year-old horse whipped Bud White (St. Thomas), the winner of the 2nd leg of the Triple Crown, into the second spot; Berberis (St. Croix) third; winner of the 3rdleg of the Triple Crown East End Tap (Tortola) fourth and St. Thomas’ Diablo’s Fire fifth in the one mile and seventy yard race.
Moments after the race, Virgin Islands News Online spoke with Lesmore Smith, the owner of Good Prospecting, who is fully aware that many fans had written the stallion off due to his poor performances over the past few months.
He admitted that there were some issues with the Triple Crown.
“I know they were there and we reset the issue by putting the horse on rest and he came back. After a rest he usually run well, he did it again, he showed he had that energy, he show he had that run in him and I am happy for what he did today. The Jockey did a hell of a job with him, I thank my groom and everyone that worked with me told us that he can run.”
To his critics who thought he was crazy for placing the stallion in races with no financial gains, the proud owner with a grin said, “I love them, I feed on the criticism and I am here today because of that...it made me a better person, not a weaker person.”
According to Smith, he is eyeing the Premier’s Cup on Tortola, which is currently held by Diablo’s Fire.
The race’s purse was $22,500 with Good Prospecting team taking 60 percent of the spoils, which totals $13,500.
The festive ambience at the race track drew an extremely large crowd including USVI’s Governor John P. deJongh Jr. and though he did not have a favourite to win the Governor’s Cup, he had a "swell of a time".
“I just look forward to the chance to come out here and give the prize and the fact that we have St. Thomas, St. Croix and Tortola participating, to me that is the most important thing – one Virgin Islands. So being here to be a part of it is good....I understand the best horse wins and today a British Virgin Islands horse won and that’s great! That is what is so good about the competition among these islands,” he stated in an exclusive interview with this news agency.
Asked if he was surprised at the turnout for the popular sport, the USVI Governor replied, “This being our 60th anniversary, has been a tremendous draw for a lot of people, for the folks who live here and people who came in...I mean the representation for the British Virgin Islands has been high and we have close to seven, eight thousand people here today. They are well behaved and everybody having a really nice time.”
Meanwhile, Tortola grabbed a second win on the track. Really Uptown beat Broken Home (Tortola) and Wise Option for Enrique ‘Ricky’ Ashby trophy in the six furlongs race in a time of 1:09. The purse was $7,200.
Other winners of the day included Dashing Pirate; Master Deposit; Tiger Glider; According to Jesus (St. Croix); Khun Dan; Aircraft Intercept; Rasta Queen (St. Croix); Sweet Sight and Black Jack Bob.
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