Latoya Thomas poses on her brand new bike courtesy of Guinness. Making the official presentation is MC for the evening, Ragashanti. - Contributed

Latoya Thomas should have bought the Lotto last Friday night because she would have been a sure winner. Nonetheless, she did pretty well on the night.

Just hours after being crowned Netballer of the Year by GraceKennedy, Thomas won herself a more expensive trophy, a brand new Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle at the first of a series of road shows being held to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Guinness.

It could not have happened to a more deserving person. "I'm a Guinness woman," she declared, explaining that she had already had a few bottles of the stout in celebration before ending up at the road show being held at Ken's Wildflower in Portmore, St Catherine.

She ended up at Ken's Wildflower by chance but in hindsight, it may have been destiny. She said that after she and her boyfriend were out to celebrate and had stopped at a couple of clubs in Kingston - all of them were virtually empty. There was no vibe.

Guinness party

Her boyfriend, Marlon Miller, then suggested that they visit the popular sports bar in Portmore. When they arrived, they noticed that something was going on but didn't know what, since they had not heard about the Guinness promotions that had been announced to celebrate 250 years since Arthur Guinness first started brewing porter and ale in Ireland.

By the time they arrived, the vibe was already great. The crowd was having a grand time courtesy of Mad Ras and Rebel T, Firelinks and veteran selector Sky Juice.

Winning ticket

Meanwhile, Thomas, who is from Portmore, was buying herself a bucket of Guinness. "I am a woman who love my Guinness," she reiterated. She said she demanded her ticket, the one that would make her eligible to enter the grand draw and then re-joined her boyfriend in the crowd of about 5000 party people.

She said she was confident she would have won. By the time Ragashanti was ready to announce the winner, Thomas had consumed three of the six bottles of Guinness in the bucket. She was so excited when she realized she won, that she ran out of her slippers, through the crowd and on to the stage. When she got there, she said, she was wearing a single slipper. The other was lost somewhere in the crowd.

It was a small price to pay for the Guinness lover on her lucky night.