The Clinton Phipps Sr. Racetrack was home to some fierce weather and fiercer competition Friday when the 2025 Carnival Races brought the Sport of Kings back to St. Thomas.
Floki’s Flight, from Most Wanted Stables, took this year’s Governor’s Cup after winning out against four other racehorses, including defending champion Ghostinyou from the British Virgin Islands. This race came with a $30,000 purse.
That win followed victories by: Barrio San Jose in the Enrique “Ricky” Ashby and V.I. Lottery Invitational Cup; Relentless in the Bonnie Bonita Cup Classic; First Degree in the Pickle Whip Handicap Cup; Highly Noted in the Clinton Phipps Cup Classic; and Wicked Queen in the Special Delivery Cup Challenge. The seventh and final race of the day — the 1 and 1/16-mile Albert Boyzie Benjamin Cup and its $20,000 purse went to Guillaume.
Friday’s rain showers also gave race fans an opportunity to see how the newly-reopened track surface held up under inclement weather.
“Actually, we don’t control the rain,” St. Thomas/St. John Horse Racing Commissioner Chair Hugo Hodge Jr. noted wryly. “But I love how the surface is reacting to the rain — it’s great.”
The commission announced a temporary closure of the track in February amid an investigation into track conditions. That commission launched that investigation the previous month after a disastrous December race day that led three racehorses to be euthanized. In a letter it wrote to the V.I. Sports, Parks and Recreation Department at the time, the commission said, “[s]everal factors have been identified that may have contributed to the events, including pre-existing injuries, the age and overall health of the horses, the ease and availability of medication used by owners, and the condition of the racing surface.”
Shortly before announcing the track’s reopening last month, the commission heard that the track was determined to be up to code and not responsible for the racehorse’s deaths.
“We wanted to get about a month to train before the race day,” Hodge said. “So we had a deadline of the second of April, which we got it open that day. So that was … key for us — to make sure that everybody had a month to train — and then we also had to do some decisions as far as rules are concerned.”
Hodge acknowledged that some horses on St. Thomas were unable to train while the track was closed for maintenance and that some people wanted to bring their horses to the island in time to qualify for the Governor’s Cup, which requires that they be on island for 30 days ahead of the race.
“It was tough,” he said, “but we found a happy medium.”
Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. said he felt good about keeping the Governor’s Cup in the hands of U.S. Virgin Islanders.
“Last year we gave it up to the BVI. I love Natalio [Wheatley] — the premier — and company, but I was glad to retain it here,” he said. “And the track looks good. We did put a lot of work in over the last month or two trying to get the surface ready, and we’re ready to get St. Croix together as well.”