Exercise riders demonstrate their worth

BY RUDDY ALLEN OBSERVER STAFF REPORTER EXERCISE riders are at the racetrack every morning plying their trade of exercising horses and simply doing the rounds of being present when needed. They are an integral component of the racing set-up not only locally at Caymanas Park but worldwide wherever racing is seriously conducted.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014    

EXERCISE riders are at the racetrack every morning plying their trade of exercising horses and simply doing the rounds of being present when needed. They are an integral component of the racing set-up not only locally at Caymanas Park but worldwide wherever racing is seriously conducted.

Every now and then, the local promoting company of horse racing, Caymanas Track Limited, allows these exercise riders to show their skills in the saddle in specially designed races usually at the $180,000 claiming level. Such was the case on Saturday last when the riders were allowed to ride in two races.

Both races were run over 800 metres (four furlongs) with the first going to the front-running Searching For Gold ridden by Michael Pottinger (Jnr) and trained by Denrick Chambers.

From the start Pottinger (Jnr) had no problems as he guided the six-year-old chestnut gelding to an easy two-length victory over Time Of Storm, the mount of Tevin Foster in a time of 47:2 seconds.

“It feels so good to win one of these races. I am just happy with the win as this will only boost my confidence going into the jockeys’ training school next February (2015), and that is something that I am really looking forward to do,” Pottinger (Jnr) told the Complete Racing Guide.

The second race for the exercise riders went to Linton Steadman aboard Madiba for trainer Robert A Darby (Snr). Madiba, like Searching For Gold, galloped resolutely in front and won handily by two-and-a-half lengths over Vibes Master (Jerome Innis) and Gold Rush (Michael Pottinger) in 0:47:1 seconds.

“Right now I am a happy person as it is always good to win races in pursuit of becoming a jockey as I want to do good if and when the time comes. To win is a special feeling,” Steadman said.

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Exercise
riders
demonstrate their worth

Players seek WICB help, say WIPA no longer their agent

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — The West Indies squad in India say they no longer want any part of a Wavell Hinds-led West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA), and has asked the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to “urgently” intervene in the impasse.

In a letter to WICB president Dave Cameron on Friday, the players once again expressed their lack of faith in Hinds’ leadership and reiterated their desire to return to the terms of the old Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)/Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

The WICB yesterday confirmed to CMC Sports it had received the letter.

The players have accused Hinds, the WIPA president and chief executive, of misleading them as it relates to the terms of the newly signed CBA/MOU.

In a move that threatens to split the players union and derail an agreement Cameron recently described as “historic”, the Windies players said they had “collectively determined” not to accept any contracts stemming from the agreement and would also seek new representation shortly.

“The process that has been supposedly undertaken on our behalf is, in our view, a breach of trust, a clear lack of transparency and violation of our rights,” the players wrote.

“It would therefore be not only imprudent, but immoral to consider such representative action to be in any way appropriate or right.

“For the record, we wish to reiterate our position put forward to the WICB earlier through WIPA, which is, that we propose the continuation under the old structure until a new agreement is reached between the players and WICB.

“Neither the WICB nor the players would be disadvantaged by such a mutually agreed arrangement. We believe this to be a sensible and reasonable option in the interim, while we negotiate new terms and conditions that have been properly ventilated.”

In an earlier letter last week, the players had called on Hinds and the other members of WIPA top brass to resign, a call rejected by the former Jamaica and West Indies batsman.

However, the players reiterated their call for Hinds to go.

“It is our view, given the circumstances of the formulation and finalising of this agreement, the WIPA Board needs to do the right thing and resign. We wish to formally advise you that WIPA has no authority to speak on our behalf,” the players wrote.

“We also note that we finally got a response yesterday (Thursday) from Mr Hinds. However, his response leads us to pose more questions than the answers provided. There were many inaccuracies in Mr Hinds’ letter to which we will provide a detailed response in due course.

“We will advise you of the person or persons entrusted with the responsibility to act on our behalf shortly.”

The players are upset over what they have described as a significant reduction in their income under the new terms of the CBA/MOU, and threatened to withdraw their services for last Wednesday’s first One-Day International of the five-match series against India in Kochi.

They argued they were unaware of the new terms contained in the agreement and had no input in the negotiations undertaken by WIPA.

Hinds subsequently hit back, pointing out that the players’ representative and one-day captain Dwayne Bravo was present at the meeting where the new agreement was discussed, and had given his assent.

With no resolution in sight, the players have asked Cameron to step in.

“As you are aware, as an act of good faith and in the spirit of camaraderie that epitomises regional cricket, we conceded to go forward with the 1st One-Day Match in India with the expectation that we would resolve the critical matter of all our contractual terms,” the players said in the letter.

“Our decision to play in India was in no way intended to convey an acceptance by the players of the unreasonable terms and conditions put forward to us by WICB nor was it intended as an expression of our acceptance of the purported new Memorandum of Understanding.”

They added: “As you may be aware, we have demonstrated much restraint in this matter in trying to get our former representatives to fix this travesty, but unfortunately this has not occurred. We are hopeful that, with your intervention, the matter can be resolved without public or other recourse.”

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Players seek WICB help, say WIPA no longer their agent

"Over a million Jamaicans won"t realise their potential"

OVER a million Jamaicans will never realise their true potential, figures management consultant Trevor Hamilton.

His math shows harrowing statistics on the country’s labour force.

“Over 65 per cent are failed by the school system and are also fooled that they must have five or more CSEC subjects to succeed,” he said. “Over 70 per cent of tertiary students graduate without any vocational skills, and over 60 per cent of the labour force is not employable.”

He estimates that less than three per cent of the population is able to speak another language, while over 300,000 persons are deprived of opportunities mainly due to their “excessive political loyalties”.

“A rational HR strategy to give the country economic and social competitiveness is overwhelmingly believed to be the only way to prosperity for all,” he said. “Now more than ever, the powers that be need to ensure that the workforce is prepared and empowered to contribute positively towards nation-building.

“Let me hasten to add that this can only be realised through the process of purposeful alignment.”

Purposeful alignment happens when investments are made in talent management as a means towards achieving a firm’s sustainable competitive advantage.

With globalisation and the consequential competition for resources, markets and harmonised standards of governance, products and services, consultants have to be familiar with best practices in their areas of specialisation, according to Hamilton.

“They also need to know exactly how to make modifications for proper alignment to the socio-economic and cultural dynamics of the environment in which they serve,” he said.

Being bilingual is also essential.

He added: “Consultants need to work with strategic partners from other jurisdictions to get accelerated access to new solutions and knowledge and lessons learned from the application of various strategies to be able to bring accelerated solutions to their clients and avoid pitfalls that others have experienced.”

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"Over a million Jamaicans won"t realise their potential"

Hungry Arnett think it"s their time

Twelve years ago, Arnett Gardens were the toast of the country. They had just defended their premier league title and things were looking rosy for the ‘Junglists’.

It was their third title following their 1978 triumph and these came after some near misses in the semi-finals and final in the 80s and 90s.The club, with a stadium capacity of 5,000 and serving the tough south St Andrew enclave, went into a lull when its talented crop of youngsters had diminished.But over the last two years, expectations are high following the club’s success in JFF Under-21 tournament with young players bursting through the ranks and forcing their way in the senior set-up.As a result, Arnett finished the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) in fourth place.With some of the most animated and loyal fans around, the pressure of ending that long wait for a league title is mounting.Now with the league format reverted to the old cup style finale after six-year break, Arnett Gardens are suddenly one of the favourites based on their performances whenever a cup is at stake.The pressure will certainly be on head coach Calvin Lewis to deliver the trophy to the ‘Junglists’ and they want it in style.“Every one now feels like we have a chance, so I welcome the change right now,” said Lewis, a police officer.“This season, I expect Arnett to go all the way with this group of players we have right now. The players are upbeat and are going out there to give it their best shot and capture the premier league this season,” said Lewis, who led Portmore United to the title in 2011/12 season.Arnett Gardens, as usual, were busy in the transfer market and brought in a eight players, including former national Under-20 striker Andre Clennon from Waterhouse.Another shrewd signing is the under-rated Carlos Barrett, Andre Dyce (Highgate), Theo Brown (Waterhouse), the Harbour View duo of wingbacks Kimorlee Brissett and Jaron Richards, along with the promising Jamar Jackson from Portmore United.LEWIS… everyone now feels like we have a chance

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Hungry Arnett think it"s their time

South Manchester twins mourn killing of their mother

KENESHA Nelson will never be able to forget that fateful day when Joseph Francis stood in the dock of the Mandeville Circuit Court and confessed why he killed her mother, Claudette Reid-Nelson, 49, as he was about to be sentenced.

Francis had, some three- and-a-half years before, used a large kitchen knife to almost sever the woman’s head before fleeing the quiet farming village of Warwick in South Manchester.The killer stared at the woman’s two daughters, the only ones brave enough to follow the trial through to the end, and tried to explain why he committed the sordid act.“He said he killed her because she was going abroad and was not coming back to him. At first he gave a statement that it was provocation, but when he made that confession on the final day the judge declared that the act was premeditated murder and sentenced him to 21 years,” Nelson said.Francis has since appealed the sentence, but was slapped with four more years after his appeal was rejected.But despite the extended sentence, the woman’s twin daughters realise that nothing Francis will go through during his time behind prison walls will bring back their beloved mother.“Even if him get a million years it will not bring back my mother,” Kenesha, the more talkative of the two, said.For Denesha, not even the death penalty would be enough.“There are times when I think about it and wish he was put to death, but you realise that death is no revenge and can’t remedy the situation, even though I get very angry at times,” she said.Kenesha and Denesha were 17 years old at the time of the incident, and nine years later, both are mothers but neither has been able to come to grips with the way their mother was taken away from them.Reid-Nelson was a businesswoman and a farmer who operated a small shop in the district. Years before her untimely demise she had hired Francis to assist on her farm.Eventually, both became lovers although he was more than a decade her junior.The union was not approved by Reid-Nelson’s four daughters and they constantly warned their mother to get rid of Francis.But the woman did not heed their warning and on one fateful morning in June 2004, when she did not awake early as usual to tend to her grandchildren’s needs, her four-year-old grandson went in search of her in her room.The child stumbled on a gruesome scene.His grandmother was lying in a pool of her own blood. Her head was attached to her body only by a tiny string of flesh and she suffered several stab wounds.There was also a footprint in her back.To date, that child has not recovered from the sight and has been relocated from the community to live with his father’s relatives.“He will never recover. Up until now that boy don’t get over it and all the while I worry for him,” Denesha told the Jamaica Observer.A black and white merino, a bloodied pair of jeans and a knife were found by residents at the back of the shop where the couple lived and were handed over to homicide investigators.The night that she was killed, Reid-Nelson held a dance and residents reported that Francis had begun acting strangely and started to chase patrons away.The dance reportedly made $80,000 in profit but that money was never found.Residents also reported that days before the murder, Francis had been seen sharpening a large knife and swearing that he was going to commit murder, but no one took him seriously.“You feel traumatised all the time. I see the image of her body all the time and it keeps haunting me. It is not nice. It not pretty,” Denesha said.Her sister was too traumatised to look at the gory sight and never saw her mother’s remains until the day of her funeral.Francis had been on the run for all of two years before he was eventually collared, and during that time Reid-Nelson’s relatives and residents of Warwick, a community which had never before experienced any kind of violent murder, were fearful that he would return to the community and do more harm.Everyone was on the alert.“He never liked me one bit because I always told her to get him out. I know he would have killed me if he got the chance, so not even six o’clock would catch us on the street and if it did, we paid people to follow we home,” Denesha said.Francis was captured after an all-night trek through thick bushes in the district of Orange Vale in deep rural northern St Catherine.After a six-hour operation during which the cops used no flashlights or machetes and moved stealthily in a bid not to alert Francis, the lawmen finally found him huddled inside a small two- walled hut about three feet high, which was covered with branches and leaves.The unkempt Francis, dressed in shorts and a torn shirt and with dirt caked in his hair and on his body, welcomed his capture and during the long trek back to civilisation, confessed to the cops that he had murdered his lover. The cops also claimed that Francis confessed to another murder — that of a man known only as ‘Friday’ from Riversdale, St Catherine in 1999.Months before, Francis had managed to avoid capture after cops went after him in a district known as Freedom, close to Riversdale.As news of his capture spread, an angry mob descended on the Alligator Pond police station in Manchester and demanded that he be handed over to them so that they could deliver their own brand of justice.But even though the man who had caused them untold woe had now been captured and was behind bars, the trauma continued for Reid-Nelson’s relatives as it took over two years for his trial to get underway.Yanique Daley, Reid-Nelson’s granddaughter, was only 12 at the time of the macabre murder but the memory still remains fresh in her mind.“I am still jerked up about it. You can never get over things like that no matter how long ago it happened,” she said.For Denesha the memories flood her mind and tears flow freely every Mother’s Day.“It is especially hard when we hear other people sending out greetings to their mother and to know that we lost our mother at the hands of a villain. It is very painful,” she said.But her sister said that she is trying to stay strong in the face of an inestimable tragedy.“No matter what, we will have to live with it and try to cope,” she said.The pain also still lingers in Warwick and, according to Reid-Nelson’s neighbour Gladstone Allwood, the road to recovery will be long and arduous.“This is something the community will never forget because things like that never happen around here,” he said.Reid-Nelsons twin daughters Denesha Reid (left) and Kenesha Reid (centre) and her granddaughter Yanique Daley are all still traumatised after her gruesome murder nine years ago. (PHOTOS: GARFIELD ROBINSON)Reid-Nelson’s daughter Denesha Reid, in a reflective mood.The late Claudette Reid-Nelson.

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South Manchester twins mourn killing of their mother

Barbados, Guyana maintain their unblemished records

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada (CMC) — Barbados and Guyana have maintained their unblemished record in round three of the West Indies Women T20 tournament in Grenada yesterday.

Barbados thrashed St Vincent and the Grenadines by four wickets at Tanteen playing field, while Guyana demolished host Grenada by eight wickets at Progress Park.The Vincentians were unable to build a competitive total and found themselves struggling on 81 for six when the overs ran out.Sheree Ann John (15) and Crystal John (10) were the only batsmen who survived to take their score into double figures.The Bajans lost six wickets on the chase but were always in control as Shaquana Quintyne 20 not out guided them safely to 82 in 17.2 overs.Kyshona Knight contributed 16 before she was trapped lbw.At Progress Park, Grenada also found the going tough as Guyana prevailed to post their third straight win.The Grenadians, batting first, was only able to muster 66 for 7 in their 20 overs as their second straight defeat loomed.The most impressive Guyanese bowler was Phaffiana Millington with 3 for 6 from her 4 overs.Opener June Ogle continued her run spree with an unbeaten 29, while Shamaine Campbelle scored 16, as the visitors cruised to 67 for two in 15.3 overs.Meanwhile, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago have scored their second straight victory following opening round defeats.Jamaica scored a crushing 49-run win over St Lucia at Progress Park, while Trinidad and Tobago hammered Dominica by 10 wickets at the Tanteen playing field.A powerful half-century from Stefanie Taylor brought Jamaica to 108 for the loss of one wicket in a match reduced to 15 overs because of rain.Taylor counted seven boundaries in a 46-ball top score of 61 not out, while Shanel Daley hit two fours while adding 38 not out.St Lucia stumbled to 59 for four in their 15 overs with Paulina Francis scoring 13.In the other game, Trinidad and Tobago bowlers were ruthless, as Stacy Ann King, Kirbyina Alexander and Alisa Mohammed ran through the Dominican innings which collapsed for 38 runs.King took 3 for 7 from 4 overs to be the leading wicket taker, while Alexander and Alisa Mohammed picked up two each.Trinidad and Tobago raced to victory reaching their target of 39 without loss off 5.5 overs in less than 25 minutes.Amanda Samaroo was not out on 13 and Selene O’Neil unbeaten on 18.

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Barbados, Guyana maintain their unblemished records