Howard Hamilton
THE JAMAICA Race Horse Owners Association met with representatives of the Thorough-bred Owners and Breeders Association and the Jamaica Trainers Association on Monday, March 27. The meeting was called to formulate, once again, another plan for the development of the racing industry.
The group expressed disappoint-ment that a 'Plan of Action' formulated back in November, 2002 had not inspired any positive development of the tremendous potential which the industry presents.
There was full agreement that the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State vested with the responsibility for racing had failed to inspire any confidence in their ability to understand the social, cultural, end economic importance of this industry. Not withstanding this, it was felt that one last attempt should be made to have dialogue with the minister and such a meeting has been requested.
Some of those present at that meeting were of the strong opinion that the need for a definitive racing policy is a prerequisite for the development of the industry and such a policy will be drafted and sent to the ministry with the responsibility for racing. The suggestion was that moving the portfolio for racing to a ministry involved with development may be a possible alternative.
I have always felt that the Ministry of Finance was not the appropriate ministry to guide the racing industry. Agriculture or sports and entertainment or tourism may be better agencies for this portfolio responsibility. In the meantime, there are some urgent decisions that have to be taken:
Talking about money, we don't know what more to do to convince the promoters that taking out less from the WIN and PLACE pools will, in fact earn them more, even foreign experts who are consultants to a number of race tracks have provided models free of cost explaining this, and still there is no understanding.
The punter continues to suffer and the revenue from wagering continues to decline relative to other forms of gaming. What do we do? Do we change these promoters again?
Additional revenue to be earned from the bookmakers has still not been reconciled. Why can't we forget our anachronistic prejudices and realise that bookmakers are here to stay and we must work with them and them with us? The promoters should negotiate immediately for a three per cent 'simulcast rites fee' for the use of their intellectual property.
Allow the selling of all exotic bets at bookmaker's shops with a minimum 10 per cent commission (the take out allows this). The whole structure of the off track facilities needs to be addressed - none of them are making money with a five per cent commission. This needs to be adjusted starting with exotic bets at 10 per cent.
Time is running out on us and we have to find some innovative ways of helping ourselves. I keep repeating - it cannot be business as usual.
WITRA Classic off again
Once again the WITRA Classic has had to be postponed. This time, we had the entries but there was a problem with the quarantine restrictions. Somehow, we have failed to carry out the vision that prompted the formation of the association back in 1995. The driving force in the formation of the association was to foster closer relationship and cooperation among the racing interests in Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. On reflection, there are three factors that militated against this integration :
The entry requirements for the Classic were based on nomination system similar to that which operates for the breeders cup races in the U.S. We do not have the population of horses to support such a system.
The veterinary quarantine requirements continue to hinder prompt movement and dispatch of horses. We can not have horses inactive for 14 days while they are quarantined if they are expected to race and then return to their host country and sit for another 14 days before they can race. This disturbs their exercise pro-gramme and is a deterrent to trainers and owners.
Transportation remains a major problem - a problem which will continue to place Jamaica at a major disadvantage. We need to reintroduce the contributory funding programme initiated some years ago to assist in the transportation costs for moving horses - be it the WITRA Classic or the Caribbean Classic.
There is no doubt that WITRA no longer enjoys the confidence of horsemen and a decision as to its future, if any, will need to be taken at the next annual general meeting.
Howard L. Hamilton, CD, JP, is a former chairman of Caymanas Track Ltd. and is the current president of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. He can be contacted at howham@cwjamaica.com
