Horse racing in slips into limbo again

Jul 01, 2014 Sports

Motion moved to throw out head of the Guyana Horse Racing Authority.

By Samuel Whyte
Like most sporting organization in Guyana barring a few, confusion seems to be taking over and there seems to be no end in sight. Whether it is the lack of leadership by those in authority to put proper systems in place to ensure sports function, confusion seems to be everywhere with Horseracing once again moving to take the spotlight.

Vic Oditt

As such the popular adage “All that glitters are not gold’ seems to be working perfectly for the horseracing fraternity in Guyana at the moment. When all seems to have been going well with the Sports of Kings, there comes the news that the newly elected head of the Guyana Horse Racing Authority (GHRA) Vic Oditt, who has been in office for less than five months, has been removed from office by a motion of no confidence.
With the election of new office bears at the start of the New Year after turmoil and unease in 2013 it has now come as a shock that Oditt, who was only elected to the post at the start of 2014, was voted out by members at a meeting held on Saturday 28th June at the Bush Lot United Turf Club.
In fact Mr. Oudit, a business executive, who served before as president of the body in 2011 before being returned to the post this year, was not present at the meeting. In his absence the meeting was chaired by First Vice President Mr. Fazal Habibulla.
Mr. Oudit absence it is understood was one of the overwhelming reasons for the Motion of No-confidence. The motion was moved by Mr. Dennis DeRoop and seconded by Mr. Neville Budhan. It was reported that all members’ present showed total dissatisfaction with the way the President was functioning and decided that they have lost faith, trust and confidence in him.
In a release seen by this Newspaper reasons were given for the motion of no-confidence includes:
The GHRA had no meeting since elections were held more than five months ago.
Two discussions were held and because it was on days when races were held nothing came out of those discussions.
Another reason was the President’s inability to consult with members and his decision making policies. His attitude which was deemed as dictatorial in dealing with critical issues such as ‘race dates’ and his unfair and biased behavior towards some clubs was another reason for his removal.
The President’s lack of leadership qualities and many other weaknesses have caused the members to lose trust and confidence in him and as a result lead the G.H.R.A. into disrepute and confusion.
At the end of the vote -A decision was taken to allow First Vice President Mr. Fazal Habibulla to act as President until elections are held in 2015.
A further decision was also taken for the replacement of the Legal advisor Mr. Rajendra Poonai, although no reasons were mentioned in the release.
It was further stated that all decisions made and approval given by Mr. Vic Oditt before, thus becomes null and void from the day 28th June 2014.
The Clubs represented at the meeting were- the Rising Sun Turf Club (RSTC), Bush Lot United Turf Club (BLUTC), Ryan Crawford Memorial Turf Club (RCMTC&SF)
Kennard’s Memorial Turf Club (KMTC) and the Budhan’s Memorial Sports Complex (BMSC). Also present were a number of horse owners and trainers.
The release concluded that all further correspondence including application for permission must be sent to the Secretary of Guyana Horse Racing Authority, Ms Zinzie Goring.

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