QUESTION (Q)
ROY MATTHEWS (RM)
Q: How you got into racing?
RM: I started racing when I was a tiny lad in 1977, but I got into it through my brother, George. We used to live on St John’s Road near Melvin Park Stud and Stables. My brother used to go to Sydney Watson’s stable at Melvin Park, and one day he carried me there and introduced me to the sport. He asked if I wanted to ride horses, and I replied sure, but I warned him that riding horses is dangerous because you will fall off, but we decided to give it a shot. I arrived at the racetrack with trainer Watson and was carried to a trainer. I don’t recall his name, but he stated he couldn’t apprentice me because he was set to leave overseas, so I returned home. I returned to the racetrack by myself one day and met someone named Cornel Martin. He worked over at Eileen Cliggott’s stables, which is how I came up there. I spent a long time at the stables. I also came into contact with trainer Errol Subratie, who shared the sables with Emma Chin. I looked at myself and said that this isn’t going to assist me, so I went to Ms Cliggott’s stables and learned how to ride racehorses there. It was the era of Earl Thomas, Rupert Knight, and Charlton Riley, to name a few. When it was time to start jockey training, I fell off a horse named The Milkman and broke my jawbone, necessitating surgery. I had to do the procedure when I was meant to go to school, so I didn’t get to go to the jockey’s school. After recovering from surgery, I returned to the track and started to work out horses again.
Q: When did you get your trainer’s licence?
RM: In 1992, I travelled to England with my wife, and when I returned, I approached trainer Anthony Nunes and told him I wanted to be a trainer. And it was from him that I received my assistant trainer’s licence in 1995. I spent some time with Nunes before moving on to Joseph Thomas, Richard Donaldson, and Colin Maragh to properly study the game. Most of the folks I was with simply left their horses with me, but they arrived on Friday evenings, paid their bills, and then left. So it was me around the horses. Thomas was the only one who never left horses on me because Maragh had to travel a lot and Donaldson had other business on the road and couldn’t stay. In 2009, I received my trainer’s licence.
Q: Which horse was your first winner?
RM: My winner was a horse by the name of Lux with jockey Wilbert Gobay in the saddle. Winning my first race as a licensed trainer was great. I mean, the feeling was wonderful, as anybody winning their first race must be a happy individual. I really enjoyed the day when I won my first race, as I knew that my horse was going to win the race. That day I made sure that I put an extra shirt in my bag because I knew that I would get wet, so I packed an extra shirt to change.
Q: Which horse was your longest-odds winner?
RM: The longest-odds winner was Blesstine with Dennis Brown in the saddle. Blesstine won and paid over $25,000, and it was the longest odds ever to pay out at Caymanas Park. That was a part of history that went down in the Guinness Book of Records, as nowhere else in the world has a horse won and paid $25,000.
Q: Which is the best horse you have trained?
RM: The best I have trained so far in my career is Concur. I have won more races with Concur than with any other horse.
Q: Which was the best year for you since you started to train horses?
RM: My best year training horses was in 2014 when I won about eight to nine races.
Q: Have you ever started any horses in a Classic race before?
RM: I never had any horses that took part in a Classic race before. I always dreamed of having a runner in one of those races, but I never really had that kind of calibre of horse under my care. Most of my horses I have to make, and even if I had brought them privately, they still have a fault, and I still have to make them. I always tell myself that if I go into any Classic races, either I am going to run close or I am going to win.
Q: Which is the best horse you have seen race at Caymanas Park?
RM: In my time, the best horse I have seen racing at Caymanas Park is Legal Light, which is different from Royal Dad. Two times I saw Legal Light win eight races consecutively, and if you check the levels, you’ve never seen a horse win eight-straight races twice before.
