Ban on gov’t halts horse races, other events at Ellis Thomas Down
A public ban has been issued by the government on the use of a section of the Ellis Thomas Downs facility where horse racing events are usually held in the BVI.
In a late-night release issued by the Ministry of Culture, Youth Affairs & Sports on September 8, the government said: “The public is advised effective immediately and until further notice, the portion of land at the Ellis Thomas Downs which is owned by [the] Thomas family may not be utilised in any way by the government, its agents and/or assigns.”
The statement added: “This includes the Horseowners’ Association, and any person connected thereto.”
The notice did not state what prompted the urgency of the instruction, however, it has advised that an upcoming horse racing event scheduled at the location by the BVI Horseowners’ Association will be adversely affected by the ban.
“We are aware that races are scheduled to take place at the Ellis Thomas Downs on 18 September 2022. Regrettably, Government is not in a position to say whether the current issues will be resolved prior to that date,” the statement added.
“Accordingly, we have advised Mr Lesmore Smith of the Horseowners’ Association that it may be prudent to take urgent steps to cancel those races in order to mitigate the inconvenience to all relevant stakeholders,” the statement added.
Smith, upon receiving the government’s missive, expressed disappointment and asked for the full cooperation of all parties involved in the matter.
According to the notice issued by the government, the specific parcels of land affected are Parcels 170, 171 and 246, Block 2736B, Sea Cow’s Bay Registration Section.
“We have taken immediate steps to comply with the directive issued,” the notice said.
The government assured the public that it remains committed to working assiduously with the Thomas Family to rectify the situation as soon as possible.
Copyright 2024 BVI News, Media Expressions Limited. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.
So a horse racing track…ban the people who does use it, or more specifically, a section of it, from using it while telling them to cancel the upcoming events…just like that?
There is more to this story and I’m sure it involves money and can be resolved in a relatively easy manner or should have been but government irresponsibility, now has us as a territory looking less in the eyes of the other territories we trying to attract to grow this sport to where it can be.
Always being told half the story while getting the full blame as a people. That’s our cross and I honestly hate bearing it.
BUT IN THE MEANTIME WHAT HAPPENED TO THE (ROTARY RAFFLE ) ??????
Finally something being done about the endless disputes between the BVI government and private land owners.
Government should put a race track in Paraquita Bay and let the Thomas keep their land.
Take the d**n land and put money in the gr**dy Thomas family back account. Yall just soft.
This is nothing more than government stop paying for something it shouldn’t have ever been paying. Bo hoo
Why some dum s**t always in this place.
Just STFU!
These modern politicians soft…Shawonde is a w**te ah time
Is Thomas getting $90k per year? DOES HE NOW WANT 1.5MILLION PER YEAR?
The done get their money since March for de whole year
Haaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaahaaaaaaa
shout it looouudd
Let the other 200 arrangements funneling money from the people to a handful of families come to light and be extinguished.
Do they now want 1.5 MILLION A YEAR?
They should be taxing the gambling deals made at horse race and charging fees to attendees. Not the government coufers
This is so sad. I hope whatever the issues are they will be solve soon.
In case some may have miss it, this is the only functioning track in both the Virgin Islands and USVI. Both St. Thomas and St. Croix tracks are severely damaged and from what I’ve been reading in the news fixing them has some problems. If we play our cards right this would be a great benefit to us. This could put some money into our treasury as well as pay for upgrade of the track. So please fix this as soon as possible.
Government should not own a horse race track (nor hotels). Let the Thomas’ do what they want with their land and build a track and sports facility (basketball, softball, baseball, cricket) on the infield, makeing it a place for you and daily multiple use of the land.
Ayo must be fair because the Thomas family give up their land without hesitation….They could’ve built buildings on their land like all the other folks {Oneals, Skeltons, Malones} but decided to sacrifice theirs so we all could have fun….Fair is fair.
I would say an appraisal of land should be done to get the true value of the lands that the Ellis Thomas Downs occupy. If the lands is owned by Thomas family, Mathias Family Forbes Family, Nibbs Family or whoever the value should be the same base on acreage.
It is best to have one owner so in the event of parimutuel it would be better to negotiate with who ever wishes to operate the track. So my conclusion is the Government should own the track and Lease to a developer.
LETS HEAR YOUR MOUTH ON THIS , URGENTLY ,/ LIKE NOW
Oh now the next side of the story coming out .and stop confusing the people
Great news, no more animal cruelty.
They didn’t give up their land. They were collecting money for it being used. They just collected a check for 90 thousand in March. That’s for the entire year 2022..They were being paid for years. It is not free
The little piece of land that the Thomas family and the government haggling over for years is less than 3/4 of an acre making this the most expensive property in the bvi at 90.000 per year now they want 300.000, that make sense.
The little piece of land that the Thomas family and the government haggling over for years is less than 3/4 of an acre making this the most expensive property in the bvi at 90.000 per year now they want 300.000, that make sense.
You are wrong there thr thomas family don’t develop they lands , take a good look and you will see
The land is worth whatever someone will pay- Thomas holding the handle and Govt the blade. If Govt dint use their head and get a suitable lease then all power to the Thomas family! – that’s just business
Thomas families na stop the horses from running let’s get together and negotiate on this matter we can still have the races while we the families get to get together in God’s name and resolve the issue
The true value of the land is what the owners want for the land,if they are willing to sell. They must be motivated to sell. They are not desperate to sell and the value is immeasurable and going upupup.
When you eating your steak, chicken and fish that is more cruelty to animals.