A RACEHORSE OWNER would like to see the friendly inter-island rivalry between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago revived.

Derek Chin, a well-known racing personality from the twin-island republic, told this to the WEEKEND NATION at a Press conference at the Barbados Turf Club's Garrison headquarters on Tuesday.

Chin, owner of Storm Street, the only Trinidadadian horse entered for the March 1 Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup, was at the time attending the draw for the gate positions for the horses down to participate in the prestigious race.

He said he had fond memories of the glory days of the keen rivalry between Barbados and Trinidad, when his father James Chin used to send horses, two of which were Midway Island and Princely Paul, to Barbados to compete.

He said it would be good for racing in both Barbados and Trinidad if that sort of exchange and rivalry could be revived.

Chin noted that, like everything else, horse racing needed its heroes and he believed that in Storm Street he had the type of horse that could ignite excitement among local race fans as well.

He explained that after Storm Street's explosive performance in the Arima Race Club Trophy on February 9 when he blew away the opposition by just over six lengths, he developed a large fan base and as a result he expected a considerable number of his fellow countrymen would come over to support him in the Gold Cup.

He added Storm Street was a quality horse, and hoped that he would deliver on Gold Cup day.

He cautioned, however, that there was an unknown factor, that being how he would perform on the completely new and different conditions at the Garrison, seeing that he was yet to race on grass and would also be going right-handed (clockwise) for the first time.

Chin said they decided to bring over Storm Street for the Gold Cup after they had examined the first set of horses nominated for the race and recognised that this year's field was not a particularly strong one.

In addition to drawing for the gate positions for the Gold Cup entries, the owners or their representatives also had to draw for the parishes which each horse would represent in the big race.