Cut-off Period for Imported Horses Shortened From 30 to 14 Days Ahead of Governor's Cup

The bulk of an emergency meeting called by the St. Thomas/St. John Horse Racing Commission on Tuesday was spent discussing an email that had been received that morning by chair Hugo Hodge Jr. Signed by 17 people in the industry including owners and trainers, the correspondence articulated concerns about the upcoming race day.

Chief among them was a worry about which horses would qualify for the Governor’s Cup, arguing that newly-imported horses would have an unfair advantage over those that have been in the territory, unraced, for an extended period of time.

“By past practice and custom, the Governor's Cup was restricted to horses which had competed in the Virgin Islands, or [were] in a territory for more than 30 days prior to the race, except if there were not enough horses entered to fill the gate,” the email said. Newly purchased horses were usually accommodated in a different race “to avoid unfairness and give horses and their owners already here the opportunity to compete in the Governor’s Cup,” the correspondence argued. Additionally, the email claimed that horses that have been in the territory for years are unable to be properly classified.

Mr. Hodge responded to the last point with some measure of amazement, saying that “all of us in this industry know” that the classification of horses is determined by the price that was paid, and how many wins that horse has had. “We have a classing system for the horses at the track that’s been in place,” he argued. “So I reject the concept that we can’t identify the horses as A, B, C, or D.”