A day at the races at Trim’s Riding Centre

Boxing Day was horse racing day as Trim’s Riding Centre located in Cas en Bas, staged a thrilling competition which featured nine races on the day.
This isn’t the first time Trim’s has hosted this event which over the years has become a popular family attraction. This Boxing Day was no exception with a huge crowd on hand to witness young jockeys from four different stables, compete on a race track which for the most part proved challenging. There were a couple of spectacular spills with one jockey suffering a wrist injury after he was thrown off the saddle while negotiating a tricky turn.
Horse racing hasn’t quite made its mark in St Lucia, primarily mostly because there isn’t a proper racing track anywhere on the island, but one thing for sure it’s becoming more and more popular.
The owner of Trim’s Riding Centre, ReneTrim, is the pioneer of this thrilling sport, having started it some 35 years ago. He is also its biggest promoter.
In an interview following the Boxing Day event he said: “I always try my best to give St Lucians something different from what they do in life, to come and see an exciting business which is horse racing. To this day I am still promoting it and expect one of these days, a group of guys will say let’s get together and work towards making this event great.”
Trim would like nothing better than to have the powers that be, give a helping hand towards developing the sport. His facility has continued to host the event but he himself admitted, it has limitations and major changes are needed for horse racing to succeed big time.
“Horse racing is something I intend to carry on” he said. “I am hoping one of these days government will provide assistance when it comes to preparing a good racing ground somewhere. That’s my big hope.”
For now anyway, Trim’s Riding Centre will continue being the focal point for horse racing in St Lucia. Another big day of racing takes place there January 2, with nine races on the slate.
This time around there will be commentary on all the races courtesy of Thomas Trim who adds his own distinct unique flavour to the sport.