Black Immigrant Daily News

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. Dec. 21, 2022: Creating a path into horse racing is something that many leading organisations in the sport have struggled with throughout history, as the sport looks to become more inclusive.

However, a track in Winnipeg is making great in roads in creative diversity in the weighing room, as Caribbean jockeys have become the norm at the track.

In fact, 13 of the 17 jockeys at the track in Winnipeg are now from Caribbean descent, and the leading rider in six of the previous seven seasons have gone to one of the jockeys from the Caribbean.

Success For Winnipeg Racing

The success that has been achieved by the Caribbean jockeys at Assiniboia Downs is just down to a coincidence, as it is the long-term result of strategic effort.

The plan by Assiniboia Downs was to sustain the sport of horse racing in the state, while also helping aspiring jockeys to fulfil their goal in life. It is something that racing in the state has thrived off, but Darren Dunn, who is the chief executive officer at the track, claimed that without the participation of jockeys from the Caribbean, racing may have already seized to have existed in Winnipeg.

If you want to find out more about this and other horse racing tracks in North America click here: https://edge.twinspires.com/racing/tracks/

Dunn also claims that changes within Canada society have played a role in the lack of athletes wishing to become jockeys, which has had a dire impact on the sport as a whole in the country.

Aside from Woodbine, the majority of tracks in Canada will be the place for aspiring jockeys to perfect their craft before then taking their skills elsewhere. And, that would now be the goal of the current Caribbean jockeys taking Winnipeg by storm.

Caribbean Stars Rise To Challenge

Of course, the plan on the whole does sound good, but it still revolves around talent from the Caribbean seizing their chance at Assiniboia Downs. There have been no shortage of success stories since the scheme, with one of the first coming with Chavion Chow. Chow was among the first jockeys to swap the Caribbean for Canada, as he moved to Winnipeg in 2008 when he was in his mid 20s.

His best season in the saddle to date came in 2015, as he landed the rider title, and won 269 races at Assiniboia Downs worth $2.4 million in prize money. Chow claimed that the switch has been an excellent decision, as there is only one track in Jamaica, but far too many jockeys for the amount of horses entered. He stated that in Canada there is more options when it comes to racing, and he said it has been a ‘life-changing experience’.

The success achieved by Caribbean jockeys at Assiniboia Downs has also tempted previously retired jockeys back into the saddle. That includes Leroy Nelson, who was brought back into the sport after a five-year break. After hearing about Assiniboia Downs, he decided to race again, and he is credited with winning over 170 races during his career.

Aspiring To Reach The Top

There is a clear pathway to the top for the Caribbean jockeys riding at Assiniboia Downs, and a perfect example of that would be the success that would Patrick Husbands. To date, the Barbadian-born jockey has won over 3,000 races in his career, and has been racing out of Woodbine throughout his career. In 2003, he won the Canadian Triple Crown aboard Wando, and landed the Woodbine Mile in 2001. In the same year, he also claimed victory with Exciting Story in the Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park.

In 2006, he made his first start in the prestigious Kentucky Derby, as he rode Seaside Retreat for Mark Casse. Husbands legacy is there for all current and aspiring Caribbean riders to witness, and they can also dream of landing victories in the Canadian Classics.  

Winnipeg’s Racing Community

The reaction to the Caribbean riders and the scheme has been welcomed very positively, with many of the current jockeys claiming that they are among the fan favourites at the track.

Many believe that as long as they are giving their all on their rides, and they are caring for the horses then the fans couldn’t care less about where the jockeys are from. It could be a perfect example to spread inclusivity around the rest of the world in horse racing.

These jockeys are setting an example for next generations and creating a new career path that can inspire young ones to pursue in the future. Horse racing has come a long way and is finally becoming a sport that is less elitist and more accepting of anyone in any country, as long as they have passion and dedication for the sport of the kings.

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

By NAN Sports Editor

News Americas, PARIS, France, Mon. Dec. 19, 2022: While the French soccer team failed to repeat history and claim another World Cup title Sunday, losing by penalty kicks to South American soccer giant Argentina, a Caribbean roots French player who missed a penalty kick has been forced to deal with online racism because of his miss.

Kingsley Junior Coman, a forward who was born in Paris to parents from Guadeloupe, has been targeted with horrific racist abuse since missing his penalty in France’s World Cup final shoot-out defeat against Argentina in Qatar on Sunday evening.

Coman along with Aurelien Tchouameni and Randal Kolo Muani, who all featured in the final, were subjected to vile messages on their accounts, as reported by The Athletic.

Coman and Tchouameni missed penalties in the shootout, while Kolo Muani missed a chance to win the game in extra-time.

The trio received messages that included banana and monkey emojis on their Instagram accounts just moments after the loss. Tchouameni reportedly disabled his Instagram account for a brief time following the racist comments.

Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, condemned the abusive posts and said the messages had been removed. 

Some of the message sent.

FC Bayern, the club Coman plays for, strongly condemned the racist comments noting on Twitter: “The FC Bayern family is behind you, King. Racism has no place in sport or our society.”

The abuse received by the French players is similar to what occurred following England’s loss to Italy on penalties in the final of Euro 2020 last year.

After that game Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, who all missed penalties, received racist abuse online.

OTHER CARIBBEAN HERITAGE PLAYER

France manager Didier Deschamps (left) and Raphael Varane, a French player with Caribbean roots, appear dejected following defeat against Argentina in the FIFA World Cup final at Lusail Stadium, Qatar on Sunday December 18, 2022. (Photo by Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images)

Meanwhile the other Caribbean heritage player on the French team, Manchester United defender Raphael Varane, who lasted 113 minutes of the 120 minutes of play and had o be helped off in extra-time, looking absolutely exhausted, and with a minor injury, says he is taking the defeat hard.

“We are very disappointed of course, we gave everything,” Varane said. “We had to face a lot of obstacles during the competition, we gave up nothing. For an hour we were not in the game. We could have won too. …. We almost turned the game around, which was not going well. … There was mental strength in this group, a lot of heart. That allowed us to come back in this game. We’re disappointed but also proud.”

France was beaten 4-2 in a penalty shootout by Argentina on Sunday as they failed to defend their world title.

NewsAmericasNow.com