Rhodni Skelton, representing the BVI Tourist Board was on hand in the winners’ circle on January 15, 2012, to present the Trophy to the winning horse, Slevin and his owner James Bate from St Croix.

As the applause and celebration died down he spoke to Virgin Islands News Online commenting on the success of the races personally and also for the Tourist Board.

“As you know,” he said, “Sports Tourism is something the Tourist Board is actively pursuing. Whether it is the more traditional sports like Basketball or Baseball or events like these. Horse Racing is a growing sport in the Virgin Islands and a lot of people who come from away support it, so we felt it was important for us (the BVITB) to contribute through sponsorship.”

Skelton went onto to happily explain how the day had also been a “win-win”.

“Ironically the winning owner is my cousin, so it’s a nice double for me,” he said, going onto add, “I can celebrate the Tourist Board being able to contribute to such a major sporting event as this being staged in the BVI and of course being on hand to support my family!”

As for future plans, he pointed out that, “the stadium is filled, we have kids performing whether it be musically or with dance. It’s a true family day out and I think we need to do it more than once a month. The stadium is great and we have to find that little niche and do a lot more with it.”

The Virgin Islands Horse Owners’ Association has set the bar for what the crowd now expects from the 2nd and 3rd legs and it remains to be seen if they can emulate or even improve on those expectations. One thing that is certain, is that without doubt the hard work put in behind the scenes to make the Triple Crown a reality has certainly been worth the effort.

The second leg takes place on St Croix at the Randall “Doc” James Track on February 19, 2012 and fans will be able to take advantage of a special travel package of just $160 round trip from Tortola to St Croix.

The price includes tickets on the Road Town Fast Ferry and also transportation to the Track. For more information persons can call 544-4046 or 443-3702.

President of the St Thomas/ St John Horse Owners’ Association, Winston D. Benjamin was equally impressed with the way the first leg had turned out. “It’s been a long time coming, to get this event going,” he said. “It’s tremendous and has attracted a lot of interest. There has been a lot of behind the scenes work with St Thomas and St Croix. We now look forward to the second leg in St Croix.”

As for the last leg, Benjamin added that fans will just have to wait and see what they have planned. “The final leg on March 18th may possibly bring some new horses, we don’t know if the horses that ran the first leg will make it all the way through, but whatever happens it’s going to be a fantastic event.”

He also pointed out for those who can’t wait for the second leg on St Croix there are races on January 29 at the Clinton E. Phipps Track to mark the opening of the St Thomas and St John horse racing season.