Horseracing is not usually associated with the Caribbean. Photographer Wayne Tippetts
went toPark in Kingston, Jamaica and found a world full of characters and stories

Wayne Tippetts photographs the atmosphere at a Jamaican race course

The Jockeys

1 Three jockeys resting between races
2 Champion jockey Andrew Ranget
3 A winning horse gets a little frisky
4 A winning jockey at the post-race weigh-in
5 The winner leaves the track with the trainer and stable-boy
6 After the race: the course is a dirt-track which is watered after each race

The Punters

7 Following the race
8 Excitement in the grandstand
9 By the track in the cheapest area: a successful punter walks away making the sign of the gun, a frequent response to extremes of emotion in Jamaica
10 In one of the special boxes, a leading businessman watches the race surrounded by his family
11 Below the stand
12 Couples resting between races
13 A leading trainer Eileen Cligott, originally from Cheltenham in England, accompanies an owner with his horse. She is known as the 'Iron Lady" because she has had many hip and joint replacements
14 Two Trainers discuss form in the parade ring
15 Bottle boys who make a few dollars collecting empty bottles. They sometimes bet on races
16 A retired jockey who now leads out the horses at the racecourse. He is placing a bet on an international race in the jockeys' rest area

Intro:


CAYMANAS PARK RACE TRACK
JAMAICA
Caymanas Park in Kingston is Jamaica's only horse racing track. Racing started there in 1959 but there is a history of horse racing in Jamaica which goes back to the early 19th. By 1967, several smaller tracks could be found dotted around the island

Wayne Tippets started photographing at Caymanas Park in the1980's and recently went back after a break of 10 years.He was not interested in the actual racing itself, which is much the same as anywhere else It was the characters at the track which made the atmosphere special for him - the young boys who collect empty bottles for a few
Jamaican dollars, the punters, the couples, the owners, the jockeys and the trainers.

Jamaica's reggae heyday began inthe 1960s, songs were written eulogising certain
racehorses. The popular horse Long Shot died during a race while hugging the rail down the last straight , inspiring the hit song, Long Shot kicked the bucket .In 1988, a young Jamaican beauty queen made the presentation for the victory of the champion horse, Viceroy. Many faces were pressed to the fence attempting to witness this intriguing scene. One man kept on trying to gain the lady's attention: "Pssst, pssst, pssst, Miss Jamaica," he persisted, making a sound like air released from a tyre. Eventually, as the young woman turned round and caught the man's eye, he said, "Miss Jamaica, Viceroy is prettier than you."

One of the many characters you might bump into at Caymanas is known as 'Shady'. He has developed a foolproof system by giving winning tips on a every horse in the race, a different one every time. In this way, he guarantees successand collects his percentage from the jubilant winner. There is an apocryphal suggestion that Bob Marley may have been shot at because of 'racetrack runnings'. Caymanas attracts this kind of folklore.

The 1970s and 80s were lean years for the racing industry but following a string of changes, Caymanas Park race track has become more popular than ever, attracting
crowds of up to 12,500. The core of its success is the use of which allows off-track betting all over Jamaica

..Of the many characters to be found at Caymanas park race track, the man
known as shady, who gives winning tips on every horse in the race to
different people and collects money from the jubilant winner! Must rank as
the one of the most colourful and cheeky. It has also been mentioned perhaps
apocryphally, that Bob Marley was shot at due to political violence or
perhaps " race track runnings ". One thing is for sure, Caymanas park race
track is as full of folk lore as Jamaica it s self.
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WAYNE TIPPETTS BIOGRAPHY

Wayne Tippetts born in England 1959, and studied Documentary Photography at
North East London Polytechnic. Graduating in 1986, he began to visit
Jamaica on a regular basis, travelling the island photographing subjects such as religion, horse racing and dance hall culture. In 1994, he held an exhibition of his work at the Grovesnor gallery, Kingston. In 1993, he moved to Jamaicato work as a photographer, whilst teaching photography part time at the Edna Manley School for Visual Art, Kingston. A number of hisphotographs have appeared on record sleeves and in magazine features and a selection of his images were exhibited as part of the international Reggae Xplosion exhibition, which toured the UK in 2000. Currently based in London, Tippetts has contributed to the book,Reggae Explosion , the story of Jamaican music to be published by Virgin in the spring.

Wayne Tippetts can be contacted at wayne.tippetts@vizavi.net or wtippets@hotmail.com (NB MENNO THIS SPELLING IS CORRECT)