AN almost deafening lightning strike caused the abandonment of five of the nine races scheduled to be run at Caymanas Park yesterday.

The lightning strike sent punters scampering in noticeable fear to all directions of the Caymanas stands. The impact of the strike was quick and decisive, as the totalisator (betting) board went down immediately, thereby hampering betting at Caymanas and its network of Off-Track Betting Parlours across the island.

Caymanas Track Limited (CTL), the promoter of horse racing, in response to this unusual situation publicly stated that they were experiencing technical difficulties and asked punters to stand by and hold all tickets.

After an approximate wait of 25 minutes, the dividends of the fourth race were announced with the advisory that winning tickets could be cashed. New post times were then announced and the eight horses entered for the fifth race took to the track with their riders, but it was not to be.

Two of the four cameras that are usually used to video races at the park from the various angles were knocked out of commission by the lightning strike. The stewards of the race meeting took the decision that they could not work with only two cameras, especially in the positions they were located.

It is reported that they wanted the two working cameras to show the front view of the races. Feverish attempts were made by CTL technicians to remedy the situation but to no avail.

The final decision was then taken to abandon the remaining five races and run them on Wednesday instead.