Hipódromo Camarero (formerly known as El Nuevo Comandante) is a

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

building located in

Canóvanas, Puerto Rico Canóvanas (, ) is a town and municipality in Puerto Rico, located in the northeastern region, north of Juncos and Las Piedras; south of Loíza; east of Carolina; and west of Río Grande. Canóvanas is spread over 6 barrios and Canóvanas P ...

, to the east of

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

and Carolina. It is about a fifteen-minute drive from Carolina's

Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto Internacional Luis Muñoz Marín) is a joint civil-military international airport located in suburban Carolina, Puerto Rico, southeast of San Juan. It is named for Luis Muño ...

, and 25 minutes east from the Isla Verde

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

area. The new administration of Camarero Race Track Corporation start operations on January 5, 2007. El Nuevo Comandante was built in 1976, and opened on October 31, 1976, to substitute the original "El Comandante" building, which had been located in Carolina, from January 1957 to mid October 1976. It has become arguably the most important horse racing complex in the island, holding horse races every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. El Nuevo Comandante features a

betting Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three eleme ...

window, in which players can try their luck at different games, such as "El Pool Pote" and others. The top award a player can win at El Nuevo Comandante is the "Pool Pote" (Pool Pot) and it reached a staggering 12 Million dollars and has been the largest pot ever won in Puerto Rico's Horse Racing Industry. In addition to the betting windows at El Nuevo Comandante, the Industry has a link of betting agencies throughout Puerto Rico. These are called "agencias hipicas", and people can go there to place bets as well and enjoy local refreshments and snacks. Races at "El Nuevo Comandante" have been shown on local

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

and Les Oraliens on

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

since the building was inaugurated. Some of the most famous television sportscasters in Puerto Rican history have commented from there, including Norman H. Davila and

Manolo Rivera Morales Manuel Rivera Morales (''aka'' "Manolo", "El Olimpico", "Mr. Apuntenlo") (May 14, 1923–May 25, 2000) (in Spanish) was a Puerto Rican sportscaster, radio announcer and marketing sales executive. Rivera Morales is considered by many to be the be ...

. Some famous jockeys have run there too, including Hall of Famer

Angel Cordero In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

, John Velazquez and J.C. Diaz. Famous horses imported to run at El Nuevo Comandante have been: Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner

Bold Forbes Bold Forbes (March 31, 1973 – August 9, 2000) was a champion thoroughbred racehorse, winner of the 1976 Kentucky Derby and 1976 Belmont Stakes. Background Bold Forbes was a bay horse bred in Kentucky by Lee Eaton. Bold Forbes' dam Comely Ne ...

, Santa Anita Derby winner Mister Frisky, Bandit Bomber and Dawn Glory (Stakes winner in USA). Among the native horses: Hurly Road (Triple Crown winner), Ribot's Verset (one of the best sires in Puerto Rican history), My favorite Place (Multiple allowance winner in California) Capa Prieto (undefeated for years),

Camarero Camarero (1951–1956) was a Thoroughbred racehorse that was raised and raced in Puerto Rico. He was the winner of 73 races, including the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in Puerto Rico. Camarero is notable for setting the current world recor ...

(Holds a record of 56 consecutive wins in a row), Vuelve Candy B (Triple Crown and Caribbean Derby winner and the only horse to earn a million dollars in Puerto Rico), Verset Dancer (Caribbean Derby winner and winner in USA) and Verset's Jet (son of Verset Dancer) who's the first horse to complete the Caribbean Derby and Confraternidad Stakes double. El Nuevo Comandante also has the infamous distinction (Guinness record) of having the horse with the most consecutive losses (Dona Chepa) with 134 consecutive loses (through 11/2/08 without a win) El Nuevo Comandante is also the site where the most famous race in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

has been held for 32 years: The Clasico del Caribe is celebrated there yearly, with horses participating from Colombia, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Puerto Rico, among other countries.

External links

Official website(El Nuevo Comandante information is available here in Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hipodromo Camarero 1976 establishments in Puerto Rico Canóvanas, Puerto Rico Horse racing venues in Puerto Rico Sports venues completed in 1976