Horse racing enthusiasts presented two entirely different paddocks Friday at a meeting of the Senate’s Committee on Culture, Youth, and Sports, Parks, and Recreation. Seven years after back-to-back Category 5 hurricanes put down the equine sports in the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas has held two races and is nearing full capability, officials said, while St. Croix is pulling up lame.
The grandstands at Clinton E. Phipps racetrack on St. Thomas were filled with colorfully-clad Virgin Islanders this spring for the Governor’s Cup and the Lt. Governor’s Cup, said Shaine Gaspard, chief operating officer for Southland Gaming of the Virgin Islands. Cistern, electrical work, locker room adjustments, barn and stable changes, and other improvements had received permits and would soon be completed, Gaspard said. Flood mitigation in nearby guts was on the list, too.
“Advances have been made to the ticket purchasing process, which has been modernized with the introduction of online sales and digital ticketing. Multiple points of entry to the facility have been established. Customers can now select from general admission, premium folding stadium seating, parking, and VIP packages, all conveniently delivered to their mobile devices via QR codes for seamless access,” he told the committee.
Gaspard, the parent of a child with what he described as severe disabilities, said accessibility was a key component of the new racing casino — or racino — facility, which has eight Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant parking spaces, ADA-approved ramps on both sides of the grandstands, and 20 ADA wheelchair-accessible seating spaces.
“It’s about ensuring everyone in our community can experience the excitement of race day together, regardless of their ability,” Gaspard said.
About 360 furlongs south, repairs to race facilities on St. Croix remain at a standstill, dismayed senators bemoaned.
While VIGL Chief Financial Officer Andrew Dubuque explained the many setbacks and promised work rebuilding the Randall “Doc” James Racetrack and Casino would start soon, several senators suggested the long delays were intentional or that the project was an afterthought for the company with designs on racetracks outside the territory.
“The horse and pony show needs to stop,” said Senate President Novelle Francis Jr. “We don’t want nobody to come and play us.”
Committee Chair Sen. Angel L. Bolques Jr. said he’d received a video that appeared to show someone from VIGL’s parent company, Caravelle Group, bragging about work on a racetrack on Antigua. Earth-moving machines drove around a dirty construction site in the video superimposed with the words: “Phase 1A: Dam and track base development Cassada Gardens Racetrack Antigua Turf Club Inc. Caravelle Group Antigua Inc. Mecke Development Corporation.”
Dubuque said his company had no confirmed investments in any Antiguan race projects but did have a letter of intent for an amount he declined to specify.
As for the St. Croix track, Dubuque said VIGL had already invested $11 million: $4 million on architecture and engineering plans, $2.5 million in salaries, more in barn repair in 2017 and extending the track from 7/8 of a mile to one mile.
With all needed permits in place or on the way, the project stalled, he said, when their primary construction contractor declared bankruptcy in July. VIGL was looking for a new contractor but suspected the project would climb to more than $20 million, Dubuque said.
The first contractor had said the project could be done for about $7 million, he said. A new contractor being considered put the price tag at more than $18 million.
“We appreciate the patience of the people of St. Croix in getting to this point. We at VIGL understand importance of horse racing and the need for a sustainable economic model to maintain it,” Dubuque said, calling the racetrack redevelopment the largest private construction project on the island in two decades. “To that end, we at VIGL, have decided it to be in the best interests of the community to immediately focus construction efforts in repairing the barns, the rails and the track surface in order to provide the racing community the tools necessary to train and eventually race.”
Dubuque said crews were at the barns Friday and that work was scheduled to begin before October.
“We’re more frustrated than anybody. We’re spending more time and money than anybody,” he said.
