The nine-race card on tap for last Sunday at Caymanas Park was abruptly halted by lightning shortly after the running of the day’s fourth race. The Complete Racing Guide carries our readers through the sequence of events.

1. Sovereign Over All runs out an easy winner of the fourth race. It was a chance ride for jockey Dick Cardenas as no rider was listed for Sovereign Over All in the official race programme. The win provided young trainer Conroy Tulloch with his fifth win of the season. Sovereign Over All won at odds of 5/1, with Awesome Flyer second and Neeno third.

2. It was just after the running of the fourth race that a bolt of lightning struck Caymanas Park. The thunderclap that followed was deafening. Persons at the race track were in awe following the strike, looking at each other in amazement as they tried to understand what had just happened. Some race goers, like the man in this photo, reacted to the lightning strike in their own way.

3. The first visible sign of the lightning strike was the failure of the tote board. Most of the odds for the fourth race were wiped off the board. Then came a quick announcement from Caymanas Track Limited (CTL) that they were experiencing technical difficulties after the lightning strike and punters at the track and in their Offtrack Betting Parlours should hold all tickets. Approximately 20 minutes after the announcement, CTL released the dividends of the fourth race and told patrons with winning tickets that they could cash these tickets.

4. After a wait of more than an hour, CTL announced that the other five races would be run and gave new post times. Betting then commenced without the use of the tote board as patrons had to view the monitors at the track to follow the odds. The horses for the fifth race were saddled, they paraded, and went down to the seven furlong starting point on the course.

Patrons of Sunday racing at Caymanas Park watch closely as the horses for the fifth race make their way to the starting gates.

5. Then came the announcement that the rest of the race meeting was postponed to Wednesday, October 30. The reason? Two of the cameras used by CTL to video races were put out of commission by the lightning strike. The stewards who have control of the race meeting then decided that racing could not continue as the working cameras did not allow them to access the front view of the race, and the front view is the preferred one. Despite strenuous efforts to move the cameras, it was getting clear that with darkness descending this could not be done in time for the remaining five races to be run.

Dane Nelson (left) who was listed as the rider for Willie Goldsmith in the fifth race on Sunday and Paul Francis (Lady Abhijita) share a light moment as they make the walk back to the jockeys’ room.

Rio Cobre (Holanda Butler) and other horses returning to their respective barns after the postponement of the Sunday race meeting was announced. The starting gates are also being moved.