Ministry of Agriculture Ponds Rehabilitation Project assists Horse Racing Fraternity in getting back on Track by Brent Simon
The Cassada Gardens Horse Racing Track is an integral aspect of Antiguan sports and culture which has been missed by the thousands of ardent fans and supporters while undergoing massive renovations.
The race track located in Cassada Gardens has two ponds on its premises one which lies on the northern eastern side adjacent to the actual race track and the other situated in the western section. The northern bend of the track was deemed to be rather dangerous for both horses and jockeys, as some have encountered difficulties which have resulted in some injuries and at least in one instance was fatal, these occurred on the narrow north corner. It is believed that the size of the northern corner was inadequate when the horses were under tremendous speed especially during the last lap of races when all participants are pushing themselves to extreme limits.
Over the past two months and until the completion of the project, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) gave and will continue to provide the technical support needed for this project through Mr. Alvin Christian/MOA Consultant. Since 2022, Mr. Christian under the supervision of Director Gregory Bailey has been overseeing the construction of ponds and dams since the inception of the pond rehabilitation project.
For the Cassada Gardens track a small dam is being built to channel the water course to the ponds, in a manner that will be beneficial to the race course and minimize flooding in that area. This will also allow the widening and reshaping of the race track as well as transforming the northern end for safer and more competitive races in the near future.
