By Neto Baptiste
Sunday’s Pre-Whit Monday Horse Race Meet is set to see the return of thoroughbred Massacre and the renewal of a rivalry with Syrian Soca.
This is according to President of the Antigua Turf Club (ATC), Neil Cochrane, who said Sunday’s event at the Cassada Garden’s Race Track will be the largest in terms of participation since the resumption of racing coming out of the pandemic.
“There are some rivalries that are going to be renewed starting with Syrian Soca and Massacre and then there is a big clash between Unruly Union coming out of the God’s Grace Stables, Player Zaragoza which is out of my and Sly J’s stables and Silent Action which is Lenny and all the guys out there in Swetes. Syrian Soca has ran all two races so far and so you would say he is in better racing shape because he beginning to get back into the vibes and energy,” he said.
In 2019, Massacre robbed Syrian Soca of an opportunity to win the coveted Antigua Triple Crown Series after clinching the second leg of the event. Syrian Soca had captured the first leg before rebounding to win the third and final leg.
Cochrane said that almost 20 horses have registered for the races thus far.
“There is only one race that has two horses whereas the other races are three or more and so it’s going to be competitive. Right now, we have at least 15 horses registered and there could still be one or two coming in whereas before when we started off with 10 so you’re talking about almost a 50 percent increase from when we started,” he said.
A total of five races are carded for Sunday with the first scheduled to start at 3pm. Adults will pay an admission fee of $15 while children 12 years and younger will pay $5.
