Latest update May 22nd, 2026 12:38 AM
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport should order an inquiry into the accidents from last Sunday’s horserace at the Port Mourant Turf Club
Dear Editor,
The Easter horse race meeting hosted at the Port Mourant Turf Club last Sunday was marred by three horses falling in the fourth race. I am told that two of those animals suffered such severe injuries that they had to be euthanized. In an earlier race, a horse also fell and I am told it also had to be put-down.
The horrific three-horse collision in the fourth race was so gruesome and tragic that it should have led to the aborting of the day’s proceedings. But strangely enough the race meet continued.
Through the public address system, the jockeys were summoned to a meeting. The spectators were later advised that the jockeys had said that the condition of the track was not responsible for the accident in the fourth race.
Instead of speaking to the jockeys, those responsible should have had systems in place to undertake a professional assessment of the ‘going’ and to determine whether the turf was suitable for the continuation of the race meet. But even more so, a decision should have been taken to abort the day’s proceedings in solidarity with the horses that were injured during the fourth race.
For too long in Guyana, the connections have become more important than the horses. Yet, without the horses and the jockeys, there can be no horse racing. Without the horses there will be no glory for the jockeys, owners or trainers.
I am urging the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport to immediately order an independent inquiry into the accidents which took place last Sunday at the Port Mourant Turf Club. That inquiry should examine the measures which were put in place to ensure that the ground was in a condition fit for racing and to determine what actions were taken following the accidents to ensure the safety of the horses and jockeys.
The tragic incident in Race 4 has further served to highlight the need for local horse racing to be properly regulated. For too long, there have been serious allegations and accusations swirling around the hosting of race meetings. A wider inquiry is needed into these allegations and accusations, including charges that certain races are arranged in terms of class, distance and entrants, so as to allow for certain owners to cart off with most of the winnings; that the horse racing fraternity is dominated by a small cabal; that certain horse owners are discouraged and even debarred from entering their horses; that classification of horses is controversial; and that drug abuse is rampant in the local sport.
I do not normally support governmental intervention in any sport. But given that local horse racing has failed to reach the standards in terms of facilities and organization that prevails in other Caribbean territories, and considering the allegations and accusations which besiege the sport, I am calling on the Minister of Sport to immediately accelerate the inquiries averred to above and to establish an independent horseracing authority to oversee the sport and the hosting of all horse race meetings in Guyana.
Yours sincerely
Horse Racing Enthusiast
Share this:
Discover more from Kaieteur News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Sir. Ronald Sanders
The GHK Lall Column
Weekend Cartoon
