The Horse Racing Authority Bill will solve nothing!

Jan 08, 2025 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Peeping Tom…

Kaieteur News- The Horse Racing Authority Bill of 2024, though ostensibly aimed at regulating horse racing in Guyana is a bare-bones legislation. It suffers from several weaknesses that undermine its potential effectiveness.

To understand why such legislation was necessary in the first place, one has to understand the problems that beset the horse racing in Guyana. For one, there is an almost total absence of drug testing -blood and urine – before during and after race meets. There have been allegations that doping is pervasive.

But this is not the only problem. There are also allegations that races are sometimes set in a manner to benefit certain stables. Then there is the issue of control of handicap racing and controversies that have led many owners to exit participation in the sport.

Before this legislation was tabled, there should have been a commission of inquiry into the horse racing industry in Guyana. This would have allowed for the identification of issues which the legislation could have addressed.

Given the myriad problems and allegations plaguing horse racing in Guyana, it is not sufficient to merely have legislation which leaves the development of rules to the Authority. The Minister can also make rules.

In this regard, the Bill is heavily focused on the establishment of a Board and its general functions. While this is necessary in normal circumstances, the Bill leaves to the Authority to develop the rules and to propose regulations to address other critical aspects of horse racing regulation, such as animal welfare standards, the integrity of racing and conflicts of interest.

For example, there is no mention of guidelines to ensure the ethical treatment of racehorses, veterinary care, or humane retirement options. There are no provisions to prevent doping, race-fixing, or fraudulent activities within the sport.

The Bill grants the Authority the power to license racecourses but provides minimal detail on licensing criteria. There are no explicit standards or benchmarks that racecourses must meet to obtain or retain a licence.

To leave these to the Authority is dangerous. The Bill’s reliance on the Authority to develop rules poses significant risks to the integrity of horse racing. While the establishment of a Board and the delegation of general functions are necessary, leaving key issues—such as animal welfare, racing integrity, and stakeholder inclusion—to be addressed solely by the Authority opens the door to potential abuses and regulatory capture.

Without specific provisions embedded in the primary legislation, the Authority could act in ways that prioritize ‘vested interests’ over the broader good of the sport. For instance, the lack of mandated animal welfare standards and anti-doping measures in the Bill itself creates a regulatory vacuum that unscrupulous actors could exploit, compromising the welfare of racehorses and the credibility of the sport.

This is more so since the Bill does not establish a firewall between promoters of race meets, owners of race horses and the Authority. Given the widespread allegations plaguing the Sport of Kings, including doping, how specific races are set and the dates for meets, it is necessary to ensure that no horse or racecourse owner or promoter sits on the Authority. It will be a conflict of interest to have this happen.

Licensing racecourses without clear statutory criteria invites inconsistency and bias. Should the Authority succumb to pressure from powerful stakeholders, it could lead to lax enforcement. Incorporating these critical safeguards within the Bill would not only mitigate the risks of regulatory capture but also provide a stable framework that ensures fairness, transparency, and the ethical advancement of horse racing. Entrusting such fundamental issues to secondary regulations dilutes the very purpose of the legislation and risks rendering it ineffective.

The Bill’s scope appears narrowly confined to administrative control, missing opportunities to develop the horse racing industry holistically. Specifically, it does not outline strategies to promote horse racing as an industry rather than a sport. The legislation also needed to address the issue of gambling since can be a major money spinner for the industry. This aspect cannot be left to regulations and rules.

The Bill also does not address sustainable funding mechanisms, such as revenue sharing from racecourse profits or sponsorship agreements. Horse racing is a big-money sport internationally and its disappointing that the Authority has to initially rely on funds appropriated by parliament to finance its operations.

It is disappointing that after all this time, this Bill is the best the government could produce.  The Horse Racing Authority Bill in its current form is a skeletal framework that prioritizes control over comprehensive development.

The Bill is weak and needs significant revisions to address its deficiencies. As it stands, the legislation risks falling short of its potential to regulate and promote horse racing effectively in Guyana. A consultant with an understanding of the horse race industry and its potential economic impact should be hired to rewrite this Bill.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of this newspaper.)

(The Horse Racing Authority Bill will solve nothing!)

 

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• deficiencies., explicit standards, horse racing in Guyana, Peeping Tom, The Horse Racing Authority Bill

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