Letter to the Sports Editor…Horse disqualified for no grounds – 1st time in Guyana’s History

Apr 18, 2012 Sports

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Dear Sports Editor,
Mr. Nasrudeen Mohamed has been bringing in jockeys from Trinidad since the first horserace meet of 2012. At every horserace meet that these Trinidadian jockeys rode, they heard verbal threats from some of the local Guyanese jockeys and were even bullied while racing. Whenever an incident like that has occurred in the past, inquiries were made to the stewards to solve the problem and to give a warning. Apparently, a mere warning to the Guyanese jockeys was not sufficient.
At Port Mourant Turf Club on Sunday April 8th, the same thing happened on a higher scale. Jockeys Badire and Razak were verbally threatened again before riding. There was an inquiry with Stewards Chico & Ramnauth about Jockey Drepaul (aka Old Bai) verbally threatening Badire’s life on the race track.  According to Badire, Drepaul said, “I’m going to kill you on this same track.” Drepaul also bounced Badire on the turns and coming on to the homestretch. The stewards asked the jockeys for their point of views and a warning was made again. Because of that, Badire did not return to Guyana to ride on Sunday, April 15th.
Although it was acknowledged that Drepaul did not follow the rules, he was not was he disqualified or fined.
At the Horserace meet last Sunday, April 15th at Rising Sun Turf Club was when things became physical. The day started out great for the Jumbo Jet Stables with a win in the E& Lower Class race, the first race of the day.
Trinidadian jockeys, Balgobin and Razak, claimed they heard some talk and threats but did not take it too seriously since they were off to a good start. Things changed after the 3 Year West Indies and Guyanese bred race went off. It was a competitive race indeed but Serenity managed to take the lead after getting a bad start.  Serenity was about 2 horse lengths ahead of Storm in a Tea cup (ridden by jockey Ramnauth, aka Put), owned by Mr. Sherriff (not Mr. Ryan Crawford) while approaching the finish line.   Jockey Balgobin changed lanes as he crossed the finish line. Balgobin claims his reason for doing this is because jockey Ramnauth yanked his horse, Storm in a Tea Cup, straight into Serenity causing Serenity to be in the back of the pack. This, however, did not interfere with Storm in a Tea Cup because there was a big enough of distance for the two horses not make contact.  Storm in a Tea Cup did not even change its lane because it was not affected at all.
As the horse was parading after its victory, Mr. Ryan Crawford initiated the fight by throwing a bottle at jockey Balgobin then everyone around him joined in. Mr. Ryan Crawford then took jockey Drepaul’s whip and started lashing jockey Balgobin several times, one getting him on his forehead causing him to bleed.  After that a group of people started attacking jockey Balgobin on the horse, he took his helmet and threw it in self defence. It’s not certain if the helmet actually hit anyone.
Jockey Balgobin jumped off the horse to flee from the fight but a group circled and attacked him. He had no other choice but to curl himself up like a ball on the ground to protect himself. The people around him were beating him up with their bare hands, kicking him and using horse wips and bottles to strike the hapless rider.  Jockey Balgobin was helpless for a short while until he was rescued by a few people leading him to a truck where Mr. Nasrudeen Mohamed was observing the races from.  After the jockey fled the scene, the group, including Mr. Ryan Crawford, on the track, went after Nasrudeen Mohamed Junior.  He was circled around and had a horse whip as well trying to chase the attackers away. Police officers then came and stopped the fights, separating both parties.
Jockey Balgobin came to the truck to safeguard himself and to stay away from any further confrontation when Mr. Ryan Crawford lead his mob of about 30 people to the truck. Mr. Ryan Crawford threw some remarks to the jockey trying to get him down from the truck to continue beating him.  At that time, fellow turfites who saw the advantage of what was going on came to the defence of the jockey and the Jumbo Jet Stables and family to help protect them. Unidentified turfites began fighting again until Mr. Ryan Crawford and his mob ran away. The police officers came and intervened and one person was arrested.
After the fight was broken up, it was announced that Horse #5, Serenity from Jumbo Jet Stable won the race but the jockey is disqualified and forbidden to ride for the remainder of the day. Stewards were questioned under what grounds the jockey was disqualified especially when neither jockeys or horses were in contact.
In an event like this, both horse owners are suppose to discuss and come to a mutual agreement. Mr. Fazal Habilbulla claimed that the jockey was disqualified because jockeys have 5 minutes to go the jockey room to weigh so since he did not make it there on time, he was disqualified.
How is it expected that jockey Balgobin would go to the weigh in while he was been beat on the track or to enter the track again in the same crowd who tried to seriously injure him.
Indeed, Balgobin cut across the horse although it was ahead, but it is no different from what takes place in worse situations with the Guyanese jockeys on other tracks.  The foreign jockeys from Trinidad who have experience from various countries are always abiding by all rules and expect their fellow jockeys to do the same.
It is unfair that some Guyanese jockeys feel they can take advantage of the rules and not be punished in any form. According to the history of riding in Guyana, jockeys are rarely fined for not abiding by the rules, but that wasn’t the case on Sunday at the Rising Sun Turf Club. They disqualified a jockey while others do far worse.
Since the jockey was disqualified and Serenity was announced winner, the trophy was suppose to be handed over to Jumbo Jet Stables. To their surprise, Serenity was also disqualified. It’s the first time in history in Guyana to my knowledge that this has ever occurred. There was no legitimate reason for the disqualification. When asked for a proper reason by management, they were unable to give a reason and just said it was their decision.
Since Jumbo Jet Stables were not getting satisfaction, they just decided not to participate in any other race for the day.
Mr. Ryan Crawford, as an esteemed lawyer, should act in a far more matured manner.  He did not have any horses in the race nor was he involved with any of them so why did he come and attack an innocent Jockey and chase after him?
Mr. Nasrudeen Mohamed has always tried to promote the horseracing sport in Guyana. He is working with many other people of Guyana to become more involved to participate in this wonderful sport. It is unfortunate that some people have to make complications instead of working together to better the sport.
Let’s try to prevent future problems by not turning to violence or negative remarks as a solution to indifference. Continue to come out to the future horserace meetings and leave the issues at home.
I attach two photos; one of the start showing horses cutting in on each other (Serenity being one of them affected) and two of the police trying to break up the fracas. All for your information.
Concerned horseracing fan

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