Sharpe hopes to turn Caymanas into a “global playground.”

Solomon Sharpe, Chairman of Caymanas Park in Kingston, Jamaica, is a third-generation equestrian whose passion for the sport is matched only by his passion for the business side. When the track opened in 1959, Sharpe's father was an assistant trainer and made the success of horse racing on the island very personal.

After graduating from Tiffin University in Ohio with a degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing and sports management, Sharpe returned home. Sharpe, now 55, was hired by track owner Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment, which took over management of the track from the government in 2017.

“We knew we had to do something different, change the entire look and feel of the product and bring the product into contemporary everyday life and really connect on a global scale,” he said.

But the changes didn't stop there. Under Sharpe's leadership, Caymanas Park added modern video boards, expanded its betting menus, forged relationships with AmTote and the Fresh York Racing Association and continues to drive other improvements.

At the top of Sharpe's to-do list are lights and a grass track.

“It’s not budget-friendly to build a grass track at the moment. We sit on a water table, so water is effortless to come by. It would be effortless to irrigate the circuit because we currently have two wells on the track to assist us.” . … I told (SVRE) that if I get lights and a grass track it will change the whole game significantly because now I can import any animals they want.”

With Caymanas Park recently hosting the $250,000 Mouttet Mile, Sharpe is aiming to expand the biggest racing weekend into one with international appeal.

Blood horse: With $250,000 in prize money for the Mouttet Mile, this is sure to catch a lot of people's attention.

Solomon Sharpe: We wanted to boost this whole industry, revitalize it and go back to the glory days. … We believe we can make Caymanas Park a global racing playground. The whole mood and excitement of today has shifted even further. Not only is it an exhilarating race for people who are interested in horse racing, but it has now become a truly exhilarating event for people who are not interested in horse racing. And when you want to grow a sport or product, you can't rely on continued support from your conventional audience.

BRA: They want to be more involved in the global horse racing landscape. Where do you see Jamaica in this landscape, let's say, in five years? In ten years?

SS: I would like to go further and work with not only NYRA but also the Hong Kong Jockey Club and UK Tote and make (the Mouttet Mile) a truly global event. In five years I would like to be able to introduce a grass track and if we have a grass track in five years then that opens us up to greater global participation, not just on the dirt track that we have and so we have a very stunning dirt road. We apply dune sand. All the foreigners who come here absolutely love our racing surface, but we want to make the product more vigorous. That's why we would like lights. We would like to have grass, then there would be at least 30 to 40 private jets on the airport tarmac per Mouttet mile (day) – a real global playground. We're having great weather right now. If you look at three-quarters of America right now, they are freezing. If you look at 90% of Canada, it's frozen over. It's pretty nippy in Europe. Jamaica is a great place to stay this time of year.

We want to be like all destinations in the world where there is a really fun weekend, at least one great day of racing, maybe two. … And then it will assist us with the distribution of our betting platforms, and it will augment the bets on our betting platforms, we can augment from 80 days (racing) to, in our opinion, 100 days per year. We have the space for this on the property. We have less than 96 hectares.

When we have more global liquidity flowing through the pockets on our various platforms, we can offer more wallets, better wallets and gradually grow the sport. On race days we average around 9.5 starters per race, give or take. Once we do that, our field size will be great for global betting. This is great for local betting. Then on this day, this large global day, we'll probably run for a total of $1 million. We'll probably do a few races worth maybe $300,000. And one day maybe one for $500,000, and we think we can do it.

BRA: They said there were problems growing the sport domestically, but after these issues were investigated, the industry responded quickly. Can you talk about what those steps were and how you were able to turn things around to get back on the path you're on now?

SS: It wasn't effortless because to change something you have to bring about almost radical changes and challenge the status quo. … When I took over the company, (Caymanas Park) was 60 years elderly and I had to figuratively reduce it to billboards. Sometimes I felt like I was doing this in the truest sense of the word, because in horse racing we value tradition and are very afraid of change. But I realized that we had to make changes and start communicating in a completely different way to fit into the global market. We had to start changing the way we work. …One time we took this approach and I wrote a business plan for the company in 2019 and presented it in early 2020, only for COVID to get in the way. However, the business plan mentioned agility. The business plan talked about being elastic.

BRA: You mentioned that you want to make this event and the track a global playground. If you achieve this, it will have great significance not only for the racing industry. It will have a bigger impact on the entire Kingston community, won't it?

SS: It will have a major impact on the entire Jamaican community. So we will be able to market Jamaica to the global audience that will be watching us. That's number one. Because even if 10,000 people fly in for the event, 300,000 people will be watching, and those people will be just as impressed as the people there. Even if we don't get these guys this weekend, we could get them the weekend after the week and after that, so it will be a great recruiting product. Anyone who would have come here will tell you about the time they spent. … It's not just about the racetrack, but we have a opulent cultural history in Jamaica that wants this playground for women and families. We have beaches in Kingston, and if I drive an hour and a half to a racetrack, a lot of people have to drive to the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders' Cup Santa Anita Parkto the Breeders' Cup seaThere is an airport in Montego Bay. We want to fill not only the hotels in Kingston, but also the hotels along the coast, where they get on a bus and arrive in similar numbers as you see at all global events. … We want our event to one day be bigger than Pegasus.