Groom Lionel Rodney has had some glorious days as a groom of thoroughbred racehorses. Reid looked after the great None Such, regarded by all as one of the iconic horses to ever race at Caymanas Park.
QUESTION (Q): What is your background?
LR: I was born in 1943 and that makes me 79 years old, and I am still going strong. I was raised on King Street in Spanish Town and went to the Barracks School. That school used to be where the Spanish Town High School is now at the corner of Young and Ellis streets in Spanish Town. Right now, I live in De la Vega City.
Q: How did you get into the sport of horse racing?
LR: My parents died when I was young. My mother died when I was eight, and a year later my father died, and so I had to grow up without both of my parents. Somebody had taken me to Miss Eileen Cliggott and Mr John Cliggott to stay and so I grew with them. They were trainers and that was how I got familiar with racehorses. At first, I had wanted to become a jockey, but that didn’t work out as planned. I had passed my apprenticeship to ride, but I never got to ride because I got heavy and that dream died. I eventually took out my groom’s licence in 1964. From there I looked after horses and I never left the sport.
Q: Who are some of the trainers you have worked with over the years?
LR: I had worked with many trainers over the years. You have Miss Eileen Cliggott, Billy Williams, and Kenneth Mattis. But I have spent most of my life with trainer Nigel Nunes, who is the father of both Andrew and Anthony. I spent 15 years with Nigel before he died and went on to work with Andrew for another 13 years, that’s 28 years I was under the care of the Nunes, and we had a very good relationship. I was also worked at the stables of trainer Gresford Smith.
Q: Can you live off a grooms’ salary?
LR: Well, if you get good pay you can live off it and also with the little percentage you are earning when your horse finishes first to sixth in a race. The owners were treating me well and so I was able to take care of myself. Owners like David Gray and Michael Holding treated me well and with respect. Holding was like a daddy to me.
Q: Which horse was your first winner?
LR: That was a very long time ago. I don’t remember the horse’s name, but I won my first race when I was with Eileen Cliggott.
Q: Which is the best horse you have groomed?
LR: Without having to guess, it is None Such. He was a champion and I think that he had won like 30 races during his time. None Such was one of the best horses ever to run at Caymanas Park. He was talented, he was tough and he had a big heart.
Q: How was racing back then compared to racing now?
LR: It [racing] was much better back then. First time used to be handicap races and not claiming races. You can programme your horses much better because now connections don’t programme their horses as when they race them in claiming they know the horse is going to leave and so back in the days it was much better without the claiming system. However, in racing now, a ‘small’ [man] can own horses as they can spend like $180,000 to claim a horse, compared to the first-time days when you had to buy a horse and horses are expensive.
Q: What would you say is your greatest achievement in racing?
LR: I was able to own a house. It is the same house that I am in now at Lot 491, 5 Spanish Way, De la Vega City in Spanish Town. I looked after the horses and I built the house, as well as the owners helped me a lot, and my kids also.
Q: Who is your favourite trainer and jockey?
LR: Nigel Nunes and Andrew Nunes. Because when I was building my house they allowed me time off to go and assist the workers because I could not pay some of them, so I had to go and help them. I have several riders who won a lot of races for me. You have Wesley Henry who was good.
Q: Why have you never tried training horses?
LR: I never had that kind of education. I didn’t have that good education and that was what set me back. I had to stop from school because my parents had died and then it was just racing horse.
Q: Do you have any regrets coming into the racing industry?
LR: Just one. If I was working with a firm or something, I would have some pension to get, but in racing I don’t get any pension. When I had reached pension age, I went to check the authorities and they told me that I don’t have sufficient funds. So coming down from the Nunes, no pension was thrown for me. Right now, I don’t have a pension to live off. They come in with a pensioner thing now where you will get $6,000 for every two months, and although it is small, I will still appreciate it. I signed up for it last November, nothing has reached me yet. I am living off my kids now.
