Berbice Bridge Co Inc supports KMTC Phagwah Horserace Meet

Mar 19, 2013 Sports

By Zaheer Mohamed
The Berbice River Bridge Company Inc has thrown its support behind the Kennard Memorial Turf Club (KMTC) Phagwah Horserace meeting which is slated for Sunday 24th of March at Bush Lot Farm on the Corentyne in the Ancient county of Berbice.
President of the KMTC, retired chancellor of the Judiciary, Cecil Kennard in brief remarks thanked the sponsor and informed that they have extended and repainted one of the stands so that spectators can be more comfortable.
“It is because of the support from the business community we can upgrade our facility and continue to do so, there are also better accommodation for the horses”, added Kennard.

Chief Executive Officer of Berbice Bridge Inc. Omadat Samaroo (left) hands over the trophy and cheque to Honorary President of the Kennard Memorial Turf Club Cecil Kennard yesterday.

“For the third time, the Berbice Bridge Inc. will be on board with KMTC, sponsoring three of our horserace meetings that are on our calendar this year, beginning with the Phagwah meeting.
Sponsorship is essential for the successful promoting of any event and we are very pleased with this gesture being shown by the Berbice Bridge Company Inc., as it helps to make the event a successful one,” stated Kennard.
The KMTC leader said the response from horse owners and trainers alike was very good, with some of them requesting an extension on the deadline to submit their entries today (yesterday), a request that was acceded to by the club.
Chief Executive Officer of the Berbice River Bridge Company Inc. Omadat Samaroo said his company received a request from the Secretary of KMTC late last year, who outlined the club’s programme for this year which fitted into his Company’s budget quiet easily.
“Further to that request, we also received a budget from the club, which outlined their expenses for the four proposed meetings that is held each year; the Phagwah, Independence, Emancipation and Boxing Day events.
Having looked at it thoroughly, we decided to go with three of those events, commencing with the Phagwah race meet, with the aim of making all three bigger and better, since we recognize that horseracing like cricket, brings people together,” stated Samaroo.
He added, “The sport creates great attractions not only to Berbicians, but those fans who come from as far as Linden and at times the West Coast of Demerara and even Suriname to witness the events, while the proceeds are used by the club to upgrade and upkeep the track and facilities there.”
Reflecting on the negative way some people view the Berbice Bridge based on their toll fees, Samaroo said a survey was done before the prices were attached as it relates to crossing with the ferry that was used in comparison to the bridge which was commissioned and opened to vehicular traffic on 24th December 2008.
“Added to that, it takes about 15 minutes to cross via the bride while persons who used the ferry (whose service I am not being critical of) prior to the building of the bridge, would have a waiting time of close to one hour at times, while they also have to pay a fee for excess cargo,” stated Samaroo.
In addition to sponsoring the horserace meeting, Samaroo said his company was fulfilling its obligation as a corporate citizen by offering toll free crossing to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO), school tours and the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre, just to name a few, while they recently joined forces with the New Amsterdam based Flying Ace Cycle Club.
He later handed over a trophy and a cheque of an undisclosed amount to Kennard, which will be given to the winner of the feature race which covers a distance of one mile and caters for horses classified B and Lower by the Guyana Horse Racing Authority (GHRA).
Samaroo stated that their sponsorship will cover for the entire B and Lower as well as the J, I and Lower races which precedes the feature event and covers a distance of seven furlongs, “…for as I said before, our aim is to make this event and the other two we are sponsoring on the KMTC calendar this year, bigger and better.”
Other sponsors for the event includes Giftland OfficeMax, N and S Mattai, Pomeroon Oil Company, Top Notch Auto Sales, Kanhai’s (Guyana) Electrical Agency, Demerara Distillers Limited, Ministry of Tourism and Mike’s Pharmacy, just to name a few.