Horseracing had a reasonable year in 2008

Mar 01, 2009 Sports

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But much more could be done for improvement

The Guyana Horse racing Authority had a reasonable year of Horseracing, but there are still a number of things to be straightened out.
Horseracing in Guyana had a good year of racing in 2008, but still a lot needs to be done to return the sport to the glory days of the past. That was the sentiment of most of the persons in the horseracing arena including members of the Guyana Horse Racing Authority (GHRA), owners of race tracks, horse owners, trainers, grooms, jockeys and fans (Turfites).
Senior Council and veteran horse racing magnate, Marcel Crawford, has been associated with the sport for as long as he can remember. In fact his grandfather started racing since 1929 as the first afro Guyanese, while his father started in 1934 and he himself joined in 1934.
Mr. Crawford, who is also the legal advisor to the GHRA, feels that some progress has been made over the last year, with the attendance improving and most of the tracks, making efforts to improve their facilities. However he feels that a lot more needs to be done if the sport is to get back to the glory days of Durban Park and in line with other Caribbean countries, he feels the country is woefully behind.
The veteran ‘horse man’ is very disappointed with what he sees nowadays and what pass as horseracing these days. He is very disappointed with the Government in that the horseracing legislation has not been passed as yet, although the minister had given a commitment sometime ago.  For things to get better the government must come on board and work with the GHRA and help pass legislation to regularize the sport.

He feels the GHRA should be more active and lay down rules and stick to them stringently. The Jockeys, owners and trainers should all be properly registered and licensed and get themselves into an association before they should be allowed to participate in race meets sanctioned by the GHRA.

Another recommendation he is making is that the track should always be in order, if that is not so, he says that horses will not give of their best, because the horses are sensible. Guyana should be breeding its own horses, in that way more persons can get involved in the sport, because to import horses are very expensive. Crawford also feels that Guyana should also have its own rules and not use other countries rules. Rules he opined are made to control certain situations and only Guyana knows Guyana’s situation and what rules can work here. He however said that the rules can be in line or patterned after other countries in the Caribbean.
Reminiscing of days past, Crawford said that those days, Guyana was the leading country when it came to horseracing.  He says that persons from the Caribbean and South American use to come to Guyana and purchase horse and race their horses in this country, saying that Guyanese horses use to go to all the other countries and win.
“Durban Park was the Mecca of horseracing in these parts of the world,” he stated.
Crawford said that he is thinking seriously of bowing out of the sport, not only because of frustration, but because he feels its time that others should come on board. He will be around to assist in what ever ways possible, as he would very much like the game to get back to the days of the past.
Another veteran horseracing entrepreneur, Inshanally Habibullah, whose club the Rising Sun Turf club had some problems with the GHRA during last year, also feels that some progress was made during the previous year.  However like Crawford, he also feels that a lot has to be done to bring things back to some semblance of yesteryear.
He feels that there is need for better management from those in charge of racing in the country. He said that there are a lot of persons who want to get back into the sport, but it is too expensive.   Habibullah said that for things to improve the Government must give concessions.
“We can once again be the centre of horseracing in the Caribbean, but the Government must assist, they cannot play this laid back game.”   In any country where sports are dominant the Governments play a leading role in assisting. They do not control, but assist. He is disappointed that the Government is sitting on its hands in terms of passing the necessary legislations to assist the sport.
Habibullah remembered when he used to import horses and give to people to race and they would pay him on terms. He feels that things nowadays are done in too much of a haphazard way. Doping of horses should stop and horses should be entered at least two weeks before race day. There are a lot of new persons coming into the game but they do not know the rules and this he said should be done by continuous training of the new comers.
Most of what was mentioned by the two veteran entrepreneurs were echoed by fellow horseracing magnates Cecil Kennard of the Kennard Memorial Turf Club, Colin Elcock of the Ryan Crawford Memorial Turf Club and Sport facilities, Chris Jagdeo of the Port Mourant Turf Club and Amaranth Kirtipaul of the Mahaicony Turf club. They all feel that some improvements were realised during the last year in terms of attendance and improvements of facilities. They were also of the view that a lot more needs to be done to improve the sport.
Mr. Elcock feels that a lot could be achieved, but says that the persons coming into the sport are not interested in learning to do things properly and feels that no matter how much money is plugged into the game, if people are not interested in learning to do things properly then things will not get better. However he is hoping for the best. One way he opined, is having exchange visits between people from the Caribbean and Guyana, so that their knowledge base can increase.
Mr. Chris Jagdeo feels that the rules should be clear. For example the list of drugs that could be used should be made available.  Justice Kennard’s main contention is cooperation among the clubs. Without that he says not much could be achieved. However, they all feel that the Government is dragging its feet in regards to helping to bring legislations on board.
Secretary of the GHRA and of The Norman Singh Memorial Turf Club Ghansham Singh however feels that a lot of effort was made by the authority to get things in order. He wants the clubs to cooperate some more, he feels that a lot more will be achieved this year.
Horse owner, trainer and fan, Van Dam of Central Corentyne feels that not much is being done for the sport in Guyana and he feels that the GHRA should be more visible and pro active.  He said, when there are problems which are numerous, there is no one to report to.  The man who breeds his own horses and says that horseracing is his number one sport, says to care for a horse takes a lot of money and the cost has gone up astronomically.
He disclosed, although the prize money has improved, he feels that it should go up some more. He like many others feels that for the sport to improve the government should get involved. Van Dam and others feel that they do not get enough representation and should be treated with more respect.  Citing one example, he noted that whenever races are called off, they are not notified and do not get any refund of money that they spend. Some small owners feel that some organisers are using it as a money making thing and is calling on the GHRA to be more accountable.
President of the GHRA Mr. Vickram Oditt however feels that a lot was achieved during the year, admitting however, that more needs to be done. However he feels that some of the comments were unfair and is calling on the clubs and those in the horseracing fraternity for more cooperation and togetherness.
Some of the achievements he listed were Registration of Jockeys, Owners & Trainers and the issuance of Identification Badges, detailed written reports after every race meet, while the Classification list was kept up to date.  Another achievement he mentioned was that the Veterinary Officer has made considerable progress towards the establishment of a Stud Book with supporting records which are necessary prerequisites for affiliation to the Jockey Club of UK and other countries.
The horses are checked by the Vet on every race day and they have commenced the taking of blood samples as a step towards the elimination of doping.   GHRA now provides increased services to Turf Clubs, including approval of provisional and final programmes, track and building inspections and stewards.
The GHRA was presented with a laptop computer by Mr. Chris Jagdeo which will help with the keeping of records.
Support for training has been promised from the ‘Reds’ Pereira Foundation on a development programme and the drafting of a Horseracing Authority Act which was compiled by Mr. Marcel Crawford, the GHRA legal adviser. This document was submitted to the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports.
Some of the shortfalls cited were: The Expulsion of the Rising Sun Turf Club for running off an unauthorized race meeting was one of the major disappointments. However Mr. Oditt said efforts are still being made to resolve this matter and have the Club readmitted.
The non issuance of insurance for jockeys and the non formation of an Owners and Trainers Association were also cited as disappointing.
Some recommendations for the New Year were: Grooms under the influence of alcohol will not be allowed to enter the area provided for the examination of horses.
An application should be made to the GHRA by all horse owners who are desirous of importing horses for the purpose of racing or breeding with the following information – Name, Address, expected date of arrival.
All grooms should be registered before being afforded the opportunity to present their animals for inspection. Horse owners should ensure that the groom for their horse or horses is registered with the GHRA.
With the amount of money being spent on horseracing in Guyana, the standard should have been much better. Is it indiscipline or better coordination that is needed?
Indeed horseracing has a long way to go to in order to get in line with the other countries in the Caribbean and back to the days of Durban Park in the 60s and 70s when Guyana was the number one horseracing country in the Caribbean.

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