-weeks ahead of Guyana Cup

-by Kyler Rollins

The family of a well-known stableman in the horse racing fraternity is mourning his tragic death and is calling for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding a motor vehicle collision on Sunday that claimed his life.

42-year-old Carlton Pluck called Blackmouth, of No. 8 Village, West Coast Berbice, had already begun preparing horses for the highly anticipated 18th running of the Guyana Cup.

However, he tragically succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday, two days after being involved in a motor vehicle collision.

According to police, Pluck was driving motorcar PJJ 94 and while negotiating a right-hand bend, he reportedly attempted to overtake a line of traffic and collided head-on with motorcar driven by 33-year-old Andre Stephen of Bermine Scheme, New Amsterdam.

Stephen and two passengers travelling in PAP 2877 sustained injuries in the collision and received medical treatment.

Pluck was initially taken to the Bath Regional Hospital before being transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he remained unconscious while undergoing treatment for severe injuries. However, his sister, Carleen Pluck, shared a different account of the events leading up to the accident.

“They have it that my brother was speeding. He never really had a speeding ticket. The other driver when you enter his car, he had a lump sum of speeding tickets. And I was made to believe that the same day before he passed to go to that area where the accident happened he collected one right on the road so I feel that they need to look into these things and give my brother justice,” she said.

His distraught mother, Leela Ramkissoon, described her son as a kind and loving individual who had been part of the horse racing fraternity since the age of 14. At the time of the accident, he was on his way to a horse race meet in Region Six.

“Me son was very very critical. Yesterday when me guh see am me talk to me son. Me talk to me son no response. Them nurse tell me seh leh me guh buy thing for am knowing that me son done done,” she said.

A breathalyzer test conducted on the driver of PAP 2877 recorded a reading of 17 micrograms. An investigation is ongoing.