Indian Castle Race Track on the island of Nevis in the Eastern Caribbean is one of the world's most unique thoroughbred race tracks.
Built and owned by Richard Lupinacci, a retired investments banker from Philadelphia, PA., the track is open for racing about 10 times per year, usually on holidays.
It has no starting gate. The horses start their races from the middle of the track and wind up at the finish line.
The races don't always start on time. They begin when the horses and jockeys show up.
There is a lot of drinking Caribbean rum and Carib Beer and you an smell the aroma of jerk chicken everywhere. Hey, Nevis is an island where the word party means something.
I discovered Indian Castle while working as a journalist on the islands of St. Maarten and Nevis several years ago. I had met Lupinacci, a pleasant fellow with an engaging smile, in St. Kitts where my newspaper was located.
He had taken the 30-minute ferryboat ride across the channel from Nevis to visit friends on its sister island. When he learned I was editor of The Observer, a weekly newspaper that serviced both islands, he invited me to be his guest the following weekend.
'We're going to have about a dozen horse races at my race track,' he said. 'You can stay at the Hermitage Plantation Inn. Drinks, food and lodging are on me.'
How could I refuse such a generous offer?
We had lunch at the Biambi African Cafe and I interviewed Lupinacci. I learned he was a retired investments banker from Philadelphia who had retired to Nevis with his wife and family.
Richard grew bored with retirement and bought a 100-year-old great house that had once been owned by a sugar plantation owner. After moving into the house, he built seven cottages on the property, each different, and gave them all special names like the Blue House, the White House and so on.
He then built a swimming pool, a stables and the race track for his guests and began renting out the cottages. The fame of the Hermitage quickly spread and before long famous guests like Isaac Isamov, the science-fiction writer, began showing up.
Conde Nast's Traveler Magazine named the Hermitage one of the 10 most romantic lodging places in the world.
Lupinacci, his wife Maureen and their son Richard Jr. like horse racing. They decided to add to the island's holiday atmosphere by promoting inter-island horse races on Nevis. They invited horse owners to ship their horses to the island to compete in races. Before long, they were regularly scheduling races that attracted races from nearby islands like Antigua, Dominica, St. Kitts, Anguilla and Dominica.
On Friday after work, I walked down to the pier and boarded the ferry boat for the ride to Nevis. The island is a tranquil piece of land, round-shaped, in the heart of paradise.
One of Richard's employees met me at the pier and drove me up a winding road to The Hermitage, which sits halfway up a rain forest. After a drink in his bar, Richard Sr. escorted me to my cottage which came complete with a hammock. There was even a friendly monkey named Jericho that would sit on my window sill and chatter at me while eating a banana.
Early next morning, I had one of Maureen's outstanding breakfasts consisting of strong island coffee, mangoes, pineapples, eggs and thick island bacon. We then drove down to the race track.
Indian Castle Race Track is a half-mile track that sits next to the ocean. We arrived there around 9 a.m. and the jockeys were already warming up their steeds.
Vendors were already setting up their cookstoves next to the track. They were serving jerk chicken and beef, beans, yams and other island delicacies. For around $2.50, you could buy half a chicken and get filled in no time.
Richard had a primitive method of betting on the horses. You selected your horse, turned over the money and did not know what the payoff would be until the race was over.
'It's very honest,' he said. 'But sometimes when everybody bets on the same horse, you get back less than what you wagered.' He laughed at his joke and lit up a cigar, pirate-style.
I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at The Hermitage. If you visit Nevis, you will, too Just give the Lupinaccis my best regards.
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).
