I recently wrote a letter to the editor stating that something needs to be urgently done to protect thoroughbred racehorse breeding in T&T. I now have the results of the thoroughbred yearling sales to confirm my statement. This year's yearling auction was held on November 21 and was beautifully organised. It was a most humbling experience to see how this well-run sale was poorly appreciated, with only 93 yearlings offered for sale. Of these, many were withdrawn and some brought back in, amounting to only 61 lots which passed through the auctioneer's hammer.
One week earlier, on November 14, Jamaica held its annual thoroughbred yearling sale with 255 lots offered, four times as many as Trinidad. I consider Jamaica to be one of the finest livestock breeding countries in the tropical world and we can never hope to compete with them. I have been informed that 25 Jamaican horses have been purchased from their yearling auction by Trinidadian owners to race in Trinidad. In addition, another 20 are owned by Jamaicans who want to ship them to race here.
As I mentioned in my first letter, Trinidad is a useless part of the world in trying to compete with the breeding of racehorses and dairy cattle. Again I suggest that some action be taken immediately by the Trinidad Turf Club. I recommend a minimum of three races on every day's racing programme be exclusively for Trinidad-bred horses.
Further, I would keep our classic races such as the Derby etc for Trinidad-bred horses only. I consider this urgent. Let the authorities get going.
Steve Bennett
Curepe