Horseracing in 2012 nothing new

Jan 12, 2013 Sports

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By Samuel Whyte

The Horseracing season has come to an end for 2012 and like ‘everything else in Guyana’ the question could be asked what has changed.  A review of things in the horseracing arena for 2012 would be a similar plot like 2011 and years before.
On can simply change the date of a previous review insert 2013 and reprint. There is still no Guyana Horse Racing Authority (GHRA). Although some in the fraternity made desperate efforts to get thing organised with the formation of an Interim Management Committee (IMC) headed by retired Chancellor of the Judiciary Cecil Kennard, things can still be termed as being in disarray. All despite the best efforts of the IMC and as put by Justice Kennard, “…there are not enough rules for us to nail law breakers.”
Those in the horseracing business including owners, trainers, grooms, jockeys, commentators and turfites either by choice or commitment are putting the blame squarely at the feet of the Government for refusing to come to the assistance of the sport which once brought honour and glory to Guyana. Their main bone of contention is the refusal of the government to lay the draft horseracing legislation in parliament for it to be discussed and become law. With no proper rules in place persons cannot be properly sanctioned.
Despite the influx of large sums of money, things still leave much to be desired.
Even as the sport can take some credit for maintaining its large crowd appeal and upping prize moneys, blames can also be thrown to those responsible for running the sports like organised Gymkhana’s as some old timers opined.
Horseracing at the moment is not very well organised and leave much to be desired and even as some clubs and owners are pouting that the media is going after them, it is not so, we are just trying to help those responsible to get their acts together. As was mentioned before, if nothing is done quickly, horseracing can very well descend into chaos.
The blame can be thrown at many quarters. To get simple information about racing in Guyana is a herculean task. There are only some rules that are being bandied about and used from time to time. Nothing sometimes goes to plan. There is no body or organisation or system in place to disseminate such information. Things like the amount of wins, by the respective stable, the criteria being used to select the top animals and stables, and top jockeys are hard to come by  whilst some grooms and connections are peeved that no end of year award ceremony is held.  While some Tracks and stables try to maintain a standard at times, others are found badly wanting.
Closing dates are rarely observed and entries are sometimes allowed until race day. Doping will take another few pages and is widespread in the business. This scenario could well be a case for the Guyana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Crowd control continues to be a serious problem with persons who are not officials and animals all on the track at the same time even during races.
Betting should be controlled and they need to be a reintroduction of the betting booths.
One bright spot is that most of the Tracks have made efforts to improve their facilities and should be commended.
The Government continues to take the flack and is been deemed the biggest culprit by horse owners for doing nothing to help horseracing in the country and is keeping the sport down.
Owners are very disappointed with the Government for failing to pass the necessary legislation and say the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and government attitude is killing the sport. They want to know if there is legislation among Caribbean countries (Caricom) concerning trade, free trade and duty free, why animals, feed and other necessities coming in from the Caribbean has to be taxed.
They cited the Government getting involved in the controversies of Cricket and Football and trying to bring solutions. Why can they assist Horseracing?
The sport is a very expensive hobby. The animals have to be well taken care of. Over 1500 persons are directly employed in the horseracing industry in Guyana, while thousands more benefit.
While there was undoubtedly no champion horses, a number of animals had an outstanding year including Score’s Even, Settle in Seattle, Sleeping in Town, Third World, Joyful Victory and War Craft.
There was no such uncertainty in deciding the champion stable with two stables standing out in the Jumbo Jet and the Shariff Racing stables. However the Jumbo Jet entity once again took the cake with their barrage of horses and numerous entries.
Banks DIH, Digicel and others such as DDL, Ansa McAl and The Trophy Stall, Bourda Market were among some of the leading sponsors.
It is hoped that those responsible including the government will get their act together fast and help save the sport from total destruction.

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