Stroke of Luck will not run on Sunday, July 14, after a mechanical issue at the airline
Three horses that were booked to leave Trinidad’s Piarco Airport yesterday (Thursday July 11) to compete in Sunday’s eight-race card at Port Mourant, Berbice will not compete.
Trinidad and Tobago’s 2021 Derby Stakes winner, the chestnut-coloured Stroke of Luck, trained by John O’Brien and ridden by Brian Boodramsingh for Raroma Stables, will not be competing in the race meet at the Port Mourant Turf Club.
Neither would the three-year-old chestnut filly Forza Baby, nor would Storm Dancer, a three-year-old dark/bay colt. They were unfortunately
turned back from the Piarco Airport yesterday morning after a mechanical issue was detected on a Caribbean Airlines craft they were to travel on.
Two of these three horses are owned by the Jumbo Jet Thoroughbred Racing Committee. They are Forza Baby and Stroke of Luck. The other horse, Storm Dancer, is an unraced maiden owned by Fazal Habibulla.
The shipping agent for the horses revealed, “Luck ran out on Stroke of Luck. The horses were scheduled to leave this morning around 7.30am from Piarco Airport, Piarco. The horses were already on their way to the airport when I was informed, about two hours prior to the cargo plane’s arrival, that it has been delayed in Miami, reason being a mechanical issue, and CAL could not say how soon the plane will depart from Miami. They had the information of the flight’s delay close to three hours before I was informed and never shared the information until the ‘last hour’, so to speak.”
The agent added, “This is very stressful for the owners, and more so for the horses. They were tranquilised before (being) loaded into the trailer to transport them to the Airport. Then I had to send them back to their stables at Santa Rosa Park because Caribbean Airlines Limited’s (CAL) personnel from the Operations Department could not confirm when the flight will depart.
“It is unfortunate that these horses cannot compete on Sunday, as this race day was their preparation race ahead of the Guyana Cup, which will be staged on Sunday, August 11, 2024 at Rising Sun Turf Club, Rising Sun Village, West Berbice. It is a Derby winner coming to compete in Guyana.”
The agent also informed that four other horses would leave Trinidad in two weeks’ time to compete in the Guyana Cup activities at Rising Sun Turf Club, Rising Sun Village, West Coast Berbice.
