Controversy seems to be brewing in horseracing circle

Dec 17, 2012 Sports

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Stakeholders blame Government for present situation

By Samuel Whyte
Controversy seems to be headed for the horseracing fraternity and the blame is being laid at the feet of the government, with the Ministry of Sport coming in for special mention.

With long running scenarios involving Guyana’s two major sporting disciplines Cricket and Football with no end in sight and the situation seem to be getting from bad to worse, horseracing, which has been doing well over the past few months, is getting into the mould. This is despite the formation of an IMC headed by former Chancellor of the Judiciary Justice Cecil Kennard.
Two of the big horseracing clubs in Guyana, the Rising Sun Turf Club situated at Arima Park West Coast Berbice and the Port Mourant Turf Club on the Corentyne have scheduled their end of year multimillion dollar race meets for December 30.
Horseracing knowledgeables stated that the RSTC would usually have the latter date for their end of year programme and what was customary was that the meet was held either on Old Years or New Years day or the Sunday closest. The PMTC will usually have a date on the first or second Sunday of December. How the situation has come to this, knowledgeables in the sport are blaming the government, mainly the Ministry of Sport, for the present scenario.
They are saying that one of the reasons that the situation is heading into chaos is because of the sloth of enacting legislation to govern horseracing in Guyana by government, for which the Sports Ministry has that responsibility.  This creates anarchy where some clubs feel that they can do as they please.
Only recently two of Guyana’s leading legal luminaries and veteran horseracing personalities, Senior Counsel Marcel Crawford and retired Chancellor of the Judiciary Justice Cecil Kennard, had both blasted the government for its non-support in the horseracing fraternity, especially with the Government’s non-response to the passage of the Horseracing legislation.
Kennard, who is chairman of the Interim Management Committee (IMC), felt that more could be done and had blamed the lack of adequate legislation as the main reason for the sports still not being properly administered.  “People are doing what they feel like, and we cannot nail them because there are no legislations,” he had stated.
He is still unsure why the Government has not acted on the draft document which was handed to the Minister of Sport, Frank Anthony, a long time ago, saying that its non-implementation remains the biggest humbug towards the development of horseracing in Guyana.
He had hoped to lead a delegation to meet with the Minster before the end of the year to sort out the hindrances.  But that meeting still remains a hope.
Senior Council Marcel Crawford was more candid in his assessment and is very disappointed with what passes as horseracing.  He feels that things are done in a haphazard way, with plenty of indiscipline and too much greed. “Persons do not have any concerns for the horses; they are only interested in make a profit,” He had opined and had stated that persons should be charged with cruelty to animals.
His major disappointment however is with the government in that the horseracing legislation has not been passed as yet. He had stated that he personally drafted the document and gave it to the Minister of Culture Youth and Sports Dr Frank Anthony a long time ago, and since then nothing has been done. The minister he noted had given a commitment to have it tabled in Parliament.
He said that, “For things to get better the government must come on board and work with the GHRA, they must give concessions and  pass the legislation, which will help to regularize the sport so that law breakers will be punished.  Some of the persons coming into the sport are not interested in learning to do things properly and if there are no rules things will not be done properly.”
He had opined that Guyana can once again be the centre of horseracing in the Caribbean, but the Government must assist.  ”They cannot continue to sit on their hands and play this laid back game. They must table the legislation so that it can be debated and passed. In any country where sports are dominant the Governments play a leading role in assisting. They do not control, but assist.” He had stated that in Guyana it’s only talk and politics.
Both gentlemen had given their commitment to help the sport gets back to some respectability. But first the government must help to pass the legislation.   Colin Elcock had also recently echoed similar sentiments concerning proper laws governing horseracing and the breeding of racehorses here citing several variables.
It is left to be seen how the whole situation will pan out.

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