HE'S REALLY OK (outside) responds to a strong ride from jockey Paul Francis to pip the 7-5 favourite BRUCEONTHELOOSE (Winston Griffiths) by a short head in the 89th running of the United Bookmakers Association Jamaica Derby at Caymanas Park earlier this year. - File

President of the United Bookmakers Association, Xavier Chin, says his members must be included if Sunday racing is to prove successful.

History will be made at Caymanas Park on November 29 when the first scheduled Sunday meet will be staged. A second meet has been scheduled for December 13.

The milestone announcement was made by the chairman of Caymanas Track Limited (CTL), Tony Hart, at a press conference on Wednesday, September 16 at the Knutsford Court Hotel, New Kingston.

Caymanas Park and its 63 off-track betting parlours will accommodate bettors on Sundays, but not the bookmakers. Under the law, the 345 betting shops operating islandwide are not permitted to open on a Sunday. Reacting to this, Chin said: "It's up to the authorities to make it possible for the bookmaker to come aboard on a Sunday.

"We provide a service that's in demand and if we are unable to facilitate our regular customers on a Sunday, then obviously, the illegal bookmakers will fill the gap to the detriment of the government," he argued.

Continuing, Chin, the chief executive officer of Track Price Plus Limited, the island's largest bookmaking company, noted that bookmaking revenues to government far exceed that of CTL and, in his view, their participation is crucial to the success of Sunday racing.

He said that despite the outcry of the local churchmen, Sunday racing is a success everywhere else in the world it is tried.

He recalled that its implementation was stoutly resisted in England by the church for many years, but finally became a reality in the '90s as change was inevitable.

no rumbling for Saturday racing

Xavier Chin

Regarding the concerns of the church, Chin had this to say: "I don't think it's a moral issue, but more so discrimination on the part of the church.

"There is horse racing at Caymanas Park every Saturday, but we hear no rumbling from the church, even though there are many persons who worship on a Saturday.

"I think racing should be held every Saturday and Sunday at Caymanas Park so long as we are able to increase the horse population for this increased activity ... Those are, in fact, the two best days in places like Britain, France and the United States ... We have to keep pace with the rest of the world, especially in this technologically driven age," he said.

Chin warned that if changes are not made by the powers that be to include the licensed bookmakers, the underground bookies will have a field day.

"They will be dancing all the way to the bank, depriving the government of millions in potential revenue," he predicted.

"This should not be allowed to happen... Inclusion is the key and the Sunday racing pie is large enough for promoters and the bookmakers to co-exist," he added.

Chin's sentiments were echoed by another bookmaker who chose to remain anonymous. He took it a step further by outlining an inevitable scenario if the legal bookmakers are denied a piece of the action.

"Let's say I am the owner of a horse running on any given Sunday and would like to gamble $100,000 on my horse to win. If I go to Caymanas Park and bet it into the pool, it will lower the odds. The same is true of the off-track betting parlours which are linked electronically to the Caymanas Park pari-mutuel system.

"With the licensed bookmakers not operating, the temptation to seek out an illegal bookmaker would be great, for the simple reason that placing a bet with them would in no way affect the odds.

"Indeed, I would venture to say that some illegal bookmakers would be in a position to pay me a bit more than Caymanas Park, as they would be required to pay no taxes or rights fees," he explained.

He recalled that the same thing happened some years ago when the Supreme Ventures' Cash Pot offered a 26-1 payout to winners, but the illegal operators hijacked a lot of their business by paying out 28-1 instead.