Government denies buying horses for racetrack linked to China Horse Club founder

The government of St Lucia has been dragged into a storm surrounding the purchase of a number of horses in the Caribbean nation for a multi-million pound racecourse linked to the founder of the China Horse Club.

Construction of the racecourse by Desert Star Holdings (DSH), a Hong Kong-based company owned by Teo Ah Khing, the founder of the secretive multinational racing syndicate the China Horse Club (CHC), is the first phase of the luxury Pearl Of The Caribbean development.

But the project has been condemned by the opposition St Lucia Labour Party (SLLP), which has labelled the government “arrogant and uncaring” for appearing to prioritise horseracing over other sectors.

The start of racing has been continuously put back while costs, including horse purchases, have reportedly spiralled from an estimated $5 million to approximately $30 million. The overall cost of the whole project is predicted to be $2.6 billion.

However, officials at the Royal St Lucia Turf Club have slated the track’s opening fixture to take place on December 13, with the centrepiece being the $150,000 Pitons Cup, a race run with similar conditions to the Pegasus World Cup in the USA and The Everest in Australia.

In anticipation of the first meeting, 40 horses have arrived in St Lucia with the government forced to deny it had purchased them amid criticism funds were being directed away from areas such as health, education and crime to prop up the racing.

Nicole McDonald, senior communications officer for Prime Minister Allen Chastanet, said on Tuesday: “Despite the progress made on this development, there continues to be a concerted effort by some who attempt to somehow tarnish this achievement by continuing to spread lies.

“Permit me to state some facts which should clear up any misconceptions about the government of Saint Lucia’s part in this project: the government has not purchased or facilitated the purchase of any horses for the race [and] the construction of the track has been fully funded by the investor.”

The assurances from the government were met with short shrift by the SLLP, which said in a statement: “The SLLP strongly condemns the government’s preoccupation with staging a horse race, which by the Prime Minister’s own assertion will be a money-losing venture.

“The SLLP is of the view that whether these horses are being paid for by the government or by DSH, in either case it is obscene and unconscionable.”

The Pitons Cup raceday is staged as part of the China Equine Cultural Festival, an annual meeting held by the CHC, which has so far consisted of purely CHC-owned horses with no betting.

The China Horse Club, which is not part of Desert Star Holdings, has increasingly made its presence felt on a worldwide stage, racing horses such as US Triple Crown winner Justify and buying a stake in the company which now owns the Tote in Britain.

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