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‘Tote-ally’ worth the wait - SVREL still working to install modern display board at Caymanas Park

Published:Thursday | March 4, 2021 | 12:13 AMRobert Bailey/Gleaner Writer
Workmen dismantle the old tote board, located on the infield at Caymanas Park ,recently. Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited has committed to erect a new, modern display at the facility.
Workmen dismantle the old tote board, located on the infield at Caymanas Park ,recently. Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited has committed to erect a new, modern display at the facility.
Gooden
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Following the recent demolition of the tote board at Caymanas Park, General Manager of Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), Lorna Gooden, said her company is now in the process of submitting the final cost for a new digital...

Following the recent demolition of the tote board at Caymanas Park, General Manager of Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), Lorna Gooden, said her company is now in the process of submitting the final cost for a new digital board to its parent company, Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL), for approval.

SVREL had expected to install the new display by the end of this month, but Gooden updated that the schedule has been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and that the digital display is now expected to be erected before the end of the second quarter of the year, which ends in June.

The tote, which is the numeric display that is used to provide race-day information such as results, odds, and payouts for each horse in a race, was located in the infield of the track and has been at the facility for more than 30 years. The display has been out of service since August 2019.

Gooden told The Gleaner that the demolition process of the old tote board went smoothly and therefore, they are confident that they will secure all the necessary approvals from SVL for the purchase of a new digital board in short order.

LOOKING AT QUOTES

“The next step is that we have started to do our sourcing of the various quotations, and because of the nature of the cost and the time of the procurement, there are processes that we will have to go through,” said Gooden.

“We are in the process of doing that, completing that for submission for board approval, and so we are putting together all the various quotes. We must get three, at a minimum, and we are in the process of completing that, and we are looking to (submit) that in short order,” she said.

Gooden underscored that this new digital board will cost her company over $40 million and explained the reasons why the installation has not already been done.

“As it relates to timeline, I don’t want to commit to a timeline because we are still being impacted by COVID-19 and curfews and other restrictions. We are operating within our cash flow and our budgetary constraints, and so we are working to secure that in short order,” said Gooden. “I think that it may not happen in March, but soon after in the second quarter of this year.

robert.bailey@gleanerjm.com