Work begins on multimillion-dollar tote board
Published:Wednesday | November 3, 2021 | 12:09 AM
WORK ON the construction of a brand new digital tote board at Caymanas Park began yesterday, following the groundbreaking ceremony at the Gregory Park-based facility.
A tote board is an easily identifiable numeric or alphanumeric display that is used to provide race-day information, including payouts, results and odds for each horse in a race.
The old tote board was decommissioned in February. It has been at the facility for more than 30 years and had been out of service since August 2019.
The construction work on the new board is being done by Kencasa Construction and Project Management Limited.
Speaking at yesterday’s groundbreaking ceremony, Lorna Gooden, general manager of Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), said the digital screen along with the construction of the base is costing her company over $100 million.
“I am excited and I am pleased that we are finally here and we are finally at the point where we are going to put in a long-awaited replacement of the tote board,” said Gooden.
“We will be putting in a digital screen and it is an improvement and an upgrade from what we had before, taking us into a comparative level with the First World, and so I am excited and I am pleased,” she said.
Gooden pointed out that this new digital screen will also help to generate income through advertisements.
REVENUE GENERATOR
“It will also be a revenue generator for Caymanas Park. It will allow us to provide advertising opportunities for anybody who wants to advertise at Caymanas Park to our far-reaching market,” she said.
“We send our signal overseas to North America, to Gulfstream, to NYRA (New York Racing Association), and so those persons who bet at Caymanas Park will also be able to see the products,” Gooden said.
“It is an opportunity too for corporate Jamaica and for advertisers to come and utilise our products,” she stated.
Kirk Kennedy, chief executive officer, Kencasa Construction, said the work also includes building bathrooms and storage areas.
“This project is about a 10-week project because it is a fairly small project,” said Kennedy.
Trainer Ian Parsard, who is an executive member of the United Racehorse Trainers Association of Jamaica, said he welcomes this move by SVREL because it will help to raise the profile of Caymanas Park.
“Without knowing the details, I think it is an important development for Caymanas Park. I think SVREL has shared some of their plans for the Caymanas complex,” said Parsard.
“This tote board is supposed to be part of the centrepiece of the facility going forward, and so it is good that progress is being made to have it installed,” he said.