We’ve had several challenges: Cochrane blames multiple issues for delay to racetrack upgrades

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By Neto Baptiste

Delays in acquiring some material, coupled with the unavailability of key equipment managed by the country’s Public Works Department, continue to hamper redevelopment work at the Cassada Garden’s Racetrack.

This is according to President of the Antigua Turf Club (ATC), Neil Cochrane, who said that although the body has been able to source some of the required material, there are other key aspects that must first fall into place if the work is to be completed in a timely manner.

“We were waiting on some boulders from the quarry and two, the equipment was promised through an agreement with Public Works, and we had some issues with the equipment in particular.  We now have the boulders, but the equipment to complete it and so on, we were unable to get. The engineers too, who were doing the work, they work at Public Works, and so we had some issues with their time as well, so we’ve had several challenges; so you have sand sitting there, rails sitting there for almost two years,” he said.

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President of the Antigua Turf Club, Neil Cochrane (right), blames multiple issues for delays to planned upgrades at the Cassada Gardens Racetrack.

Work began at the country’s lone horse racing facility in the middle of last year with plans in place to improve the surface, while installing new rails with hopes of also improving the layout of the track.

Since then however, work has moved at snail’s pace which has left some key stakeholders frustrated.

Cochrane assured that horse owners and fans will benefit in the long run.

“I am the second largest horse owner at the track, and it costs me, on a weekly basis, to feed horses and to have people look after horses, so all of us are frustrated and would like to have racing. The reality is that we need to improve the way we are doing races, so it’s a necessary break, but the break has just been too long. Everybody, I think, understands there are challenges, but would want to see it resolved quicker than they have been resolved,” the turf boss said. 

Asked for a timeline as to the possible return of racing, Cochrane offered two scenarios.

“You could just basically trim down the place, get the same surface we were running on. We’d have to remove the stakes for the new design because the surveyors have done their work and laid out the track and some of the stakes are on the track itself, so if we wanted to just, because of frustration, use the old facility, it would probably take us six weeks to race. If you’re talking about with the new design, then you’d have to add six more weeks to that,” he said.

There has been no racing at the track since work commenced in the middle of 2022.

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