Running from the rumours

May 09, 2026 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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(Kaieteur News) – Mouths are still wagging and tongues are still talking about the dramatic conclusion to the 2026 Kentucky Derby. One man in a betting shop, when he saw the finish of the race, nearly fainted and had to be revived with a cold Banks beer and a photograph of Secretariat.

In America, however, horse racing is not treated like a village domino competition… Triple Crown racing, there is a serious business. Horses are tested with the intensity usually associated with international espionage. Blood tests, urine tests, saliva tests—if scientists could figure out how to interview a horse under hypnosis, they would probably do that too. By the time a horse enters the gate for the Derby, the animal has been examined more thoroughly than most Guyanese applying for visas.

The Americans know one thing: if the public loses confidence in the integrity of horse racing, then all you really have left is a very expensive petting zoo.

Meanwhile, in Guyana, allegations of horse doping continue to float through the air like mosquitoes after rain. Nobody says anything directly, of course. Guyanese people whisper accusations with the delicacy of spies exchanging nuclear secrets. One man leans across the bar and says, “Bai, that horse running too hard.” Another replies, “Is all ah dem supplements.”

Then there are the concerns about horses arriving in Guyana and shortly thereafter ‘losing form’.  In horse racing language, “losing form” is one of those polite phrases designed to make tragedy sound like a minor inconvenience. It sounds as though the horse merely sat down in the stable, waiting to be fed. But the reality is grimmer. ‘Losing form’ now means that the horse is no longer fit for running. Increasingly, questions are being asked about the conditions under which some horses upon arrival are acclimatised, trained and raced.

And recently, there have been reports of horse deaths involving animals that had not remotely reached old age. Admittedly, horses are not expected to last forever. But when deaths occur frequently and prematurely enough to cause public murmuring, then people naturally begin to ask uncomfortable questions.

What Guyana desperately needs is a credible regulatory system for horse racing. Not a decorative committee. What is needed is an actual functioning system with rules, inspections, veterinary oversight, and rigorous pre-race and post-race drug testing.

It has now been about a year since the Horse Racing Authority Bill was passed in the National Assembly. Yet many people are still wondering whether the Authority itself is fully operational. In fact, some people are asking whether it exists and who are the members. More importantly, the public has heard little about whether there is an established and transparent regime for testing horses before and after races.

There should be a public announcement about the Authority and whether it has developed the rules for the sport in Guyana, as if required by the legislation, and where exactly those roles are to be found.

Now perhaps systems are being quietly established behind the scenes. Perhaps laboratories are being prepared. Perhaps veterinary protocols are being finalised. But if so, the public knows very little about it. And in horse racing, perception matters almost as much as reality.

Confidence is everything.

If spectators do not have trust in the system, attendance will fall and greater suspicion and accusation will besiege races. Sponsors will hesitate. And eventually the sport will decline.

Another uncomfortable truth to be faced is that horse racing regulations cannot inspire confidence if the people overseeing the sport are perceived to be too close to owners, trainers or promoters.

That is why what Guyana truly needs is an Authority that is visibly independent. Independent from horse owners. Independent from trainers. Independent from promoters. Independent enough that when it says a horse passed a drug test, the public believes it. Because transparency is not merely about catching wrongdoing. It is about reassuring participants that the game is fair.

Horse racing can be a wonderful sport. There is excitement, pageantry, speed and drama. Few spectacles compare to the thunder of hooves coming down the stretch. But no sport survives long when suspicion outruns the horses themselves.

And so, while America continues to subject its Triple Crown horses to scientific scrutiny worthy of NASA, Guyana must decide whether it wants horse racing governed by modern standards or by old-time rum-shop speculation.

Otherwise, the only thing running faster than the horses will be the rumours.

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

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• Horse Racing, Peeping Tom, R rumours, Triple Crown racing

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