Caymanas Park

Caymanas Park
LocationGregory Park, St Catherine, Jamaica
Coordinates17°59′23″N 76°52′30″W / 17.989652°N 76.875050°W / 17.989652; -76.875050
Owned byGovernment of Jamaica[1]
Race typeFlat
Course typeOval with extended straights at NW and SE corners
Official website

Caymanas Park is Jamaica's only race track.[1]

It was historically a sugarcane estate in the Colony of Jamaica. It was originally owned by the Ellis family, including George Ellis and Charles Ellis, 1st Baron Seaford, who made substantial profits from sugar and slavery.[2]

It features in the Pioneers' 1969 song "Long Shot (Kick The Bucket)", which features the demise of the racehorse 'Long Shot' in a race, leading to "a weeping and a wailing down at Caymanas Park", and "All we money gone a hell".

Gangster Dennis Barth, known as "Copper", was killed in a shootout with police at the park. [3]

  1. ^ a b A brief history Archived 2009-01-06 at the Wayback Machine, Caymanas Track Limited.
  2. ^ Barry Higman, Montpelier (Kingston: University of the West Indies Press, 1998), pp. 22-5.
  3. ^ Walker, Karyl (2 December 2007). "Copper: A cold-blooded killer who mastered the art of disguise". Jamaica Observer. Retrieved 12 June 2023.