Beyond Syldavia
Goat racing is not practised in Syldavia alone. Other traditions exist elsewhere in the world, under different rules and with different breeds. The SFCC follows them with admiration and sends delegates to learn from them.
Buccoo, Tobago
Every Easter Tuesday, the village of Buccoo on the island of Tobago, in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, holds its goat races. The tradition dates from 1925, when Samuel Callender, a native of Barbados, started them as the poor man's answer to horse racing. Easter Monday belonged to the horses and the local gentry, so the following day was given to the goats and to everyone else.
The first races ran along a village street, now Chance Street, until the road was paved. A second course at the Battery was abandoned because of the cliffs overhanging the finish line. The races now take place beside Buccoo Beach, organised since the beginning by a sub-committee of the Buccoo Village Council, today the Buccoo Goat Race Festival Committee.
The festival paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, after its 2019 edition, and came back in 2022 in a scaled-down form, A Taste of Buccoo, organised by the Goat Owners Association with the Tobago House of Assembly. Counted in editions rather than years, the 2026 festival was the 98th.
A different school
At Buccoo the goat does not run alone. Each one is paired with a jockey who runs barefoot beside it or just behind, holding a rope around its neck, over a grass straight of 100 yards. The jockey has to keep up: a goat that outruns its jockey is disqualified. The winners compete for the title of Champ of Champs.
Article 1 of the SFCC Sporting Regulations forbids exactly that rope. The two rulebooks are mirror images. At Buccoo a goat is disqualified for leaving its jockey behind; in Syldavia a handler may not lay a finger on the goat. Neither side considers the other mistaken.
| Syldavia | Buccoo | |
|---|---|---|
| Governing body | SFCC | Buccoo Goat Race Festival Committee |
| First documented race | Krépjov, 1847 | Buccoo, 1925 |
| Handling | Free-running, no contact | Barefoot jockey, rope around the neck |
| Distance | 400 m to 2 km, up to 10 km at Grand Prix | 100 yards, on grass |
| Calendar | May to October | Easter Tuesday, plus festival races |
| Classes | Grand Prix, National, Regional, Village | A, B, C1, C2, by years of racing |
| Disqualified for | Any physical guidance | Outrunning the jockey |
What Buccoo teaches
Training starts at least two months before race day. The goats learn to walk at increasing speed until they run ahead of the trainer on the rope, as they will on the day. A swimming routine builds their muscle, and their diet is watched closely. Nanny goats are thought to be the faster runners, but billy goats are preferred because they live longer: a racing goat in good care can reach thirteen years. As in Syldavia, the goats race under their own names.
As in horse racing, the goats are classed by experience: C2 for first-time runners, C1 for runners from the previous year, B for goats running for the past two years, and A for the most experienced runners.
The swimming features prominently in the delegation's report. The SFCC has made no ruling on it.
The racing is only part of the day. It opens with a street parade lined with stalls of crafts, food and drink, and many residents open their homes and cook for the visitors. There are crab races too, and spectators bet on their favourites. The Tobago House of Assembly's Department of Tourism has sponsored the races over the years, and the nearby village of Mt. Pleasant has taken up the sport.
The Syldavian delegation
On Easter Tuesday 2026, for the 98th edition of the festival, the SFCC sent its first delegation to Buccoo. It took part in the festival, met owners, trainers, jockeys and breeders, and brought its notes home in time for the opening of the Syldavian season in May.
Buccoo lets visitors run as jockeys, and the delegation took up the offer. In Syldavia, holding a goat on a rope would breach Article 1. In Buccoo it is the whole point, and the delegates ran barefoot like everyone else.
The delegation attended as guests of the festival, alongside the visitors Buccoo receives from around the world every Easter. Buccoo has run its races on its own terms for a century. The delegation's report recommends further study, and the SFCC hopes to return for the festival's hundredth edition.
Further reading
- Goat Racing: What is it and why it's a big deal in Tobago, Tobago Tourism Agency
- Buccoo Goat Race, Buccoo.net
- The Return of Buccoo Goat Races, Tobago House of Assembly, 20 April 2022
- Buccoo Goat and Crab Race Festival thrills visitors, Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, 9 April 2026
- Buccoo Goat Race Festival, Destination Trinidad and Tobago
- Goat racing, Wikipedia
- Goat Race Stadium, Buccoo, Tripadvisor
