For the third successive time, a race framed for horses rated over 100, has had to be cancelled by the Arima Race Club due to insufficient entries (3). Since the year began, with the exception of the Sian's Gold Sprint on the first racing day (January 1, 2013), none of the programmed races for horses with a rating in excess 100 have been contested.
Given the paucity of horses in this category (15) and their varied levels of fitness and aptitude for the various distances (sprints or staying events), it seems as though the owners of top class animals in this country will be left feeling the blues.Although the decision was taken to run these races even if only five horses are entered, the sorry state of events has resulted in even less than five horses being entered.
This is a very unfortunate turn of events at just the time when owners have to make the decision whether to invest in new imported stock bearing in mind the Yearling Sales season which is about to commence in the USA.Essentially, the Arima Race Club is a betting club and its objection to races with small field is borne out of the relatively low degree of competition and hence betting turnover on such races.
At the forefront of the Club's thinking is clearly the amount of wagering that will take place. While this is a valid consideration, one is left to wonder whether it will not also prove to be a short-sighted consideration.Since the races for the higher class animals are being cancelled, owners of such horses will have to content themselves with seeing their horses race in the Graded Stakes events throughout the year.
These races are fairly spaced out and as a result, an owner of a high class animal should not have the expectation that they will see their horse race on more than five or six occasions. If the owners would like to see their horse race more frequently, they will have to purchase horses of a lower standard so that they can at least race more frequently in the many lower class races that take place every day.
Either that or, the owners decide to not invest in the acquisition of new foreign stock since they will not get the opportunities to race very frequently. Either one of these avenues presents a no-win situation for the local racing industry, since the industry needs stars in order to survive, let alone prosper.Our racing administrators can also take a leaf out of the books of their Barbadian counterparts, who seem ready and willing to think outside of the box. It is not uncommon to see them frame races for "amateur riders" or to frame races for top class horses who have not won X amount of money in the last four to six months or to frame races (condition races) with myriad criteria to encourage good horses to compete against each other.
Our administrators seem to focus only on quantity of races that they can run off on a given day with no regard for the quality of the races. Can they be really surprised at the continued fall off in interest?As we approach the month of March, a look at the final index of races shows the same deficiencies as was evident in both January and February. It seems that the only trick that the administrators have up their sleeve is to vary the distances/surface.
On March 9, there is a 1700 metres on the turf for horses rated 80 and over and a 1350 metres for horses rated 70 to 90. One week later, there is a 1300 metres for horses rated 80 and over and an 1100 metres for horses rated 70 to 90.One week later, there is a 1750 metres for horses rated 80 to 100. If you have a horse rated 80 to 90 therefore, you have five races to choose from over the three days (four of them not on the turf). Of these choices, the owner of said animal has to decide between running against its own company with a high weight or against a higher company with a low allotted weight (plus overweight). The answer seems obvious.
If the framers were knowledgeable, there would not be a 1350 for 70 to 90, one week before a 1300 for 80 and above and an 1100 for 70 to 90. Instead, there would be a 1350/1300 for 70 and above on the 9th and two weeks later on the 23rd, an 1100 for 70 to 90 and a 1750 for 80 and above.In this way, horses rated 70 to 90 can compete in both the 1300/1350 and the 1100 if they so desire and those rated 80 and above can compete in the 1300/1350 and the 1750 if they so desire. This is not rocket science.
As it stands, turfites can look forward to another month of mundane races with only the competitive events for the West Indian bred three year olds (maidens or classics) available to spice up the interest in any particular day's card. Let us hope the administrators are shaken up out of their current lethargic state or the owners will not be the only ones singing the blues.
