After criticising the Jamaicans for the eligibility of West Indian bred horses to their three-year-old classics, it was good to see that their racing authority felt compelled enough to write to the local racing community to clarify their strange and unique interpretation of the word native.
While their use of the English language may require some updating, there is no denying that when it comes to attempting to support their local horse racing product, the Jamaicans are well in advance of their Trinidad counterparts.
On March 12, 2015 the Minister of Finance in Jamaica announced that effective today (April 1, 2015) the import duty on horses coming into the island would be reduced from 40 per cent to 0 per cent for horses coming in for purely breeding purposes and 5 per cent for horses coming in to race.
This significant reduction in the import duty will provide an immediate fillip to the sport in that island. It seems obvious that the Jamaicans have recognised that their breeding industry could be an important source of competitive advantage and possibly even foreign exchange for the island.
This is quite smart thinking and was no doubt the result of representation made by the local racing authority. The challenge confronting Jamaican racing is the economic environment but there is clear planning being done for a better future.
Trinidad is possibly just about on the brink of a similar economic downturn but it is hoped that the powers that be do not use this as an excuse to not put through some of the reforms and incentives that our local industry so desperately needs.
I am not sure what the existing tax regime is for the importation of breeding and racing stock, but at the very least, it needs to be immediately harmonised with that in Jamaica. Trinidad does have incentives for importation of horses, with a travel subsidy being paid, but this now needs to be expanded.
Race day 10 saw the very interesting phenomenon of an 18 strong entry for the Native bred three-year-olds. This follows closely on a twenty strong entry for a similar native bred event a few weeks earlier.
These numbers suggest that the late maturing native bred three year olds are now beginning to emerge from the safety of their boxes. It has long been argued that the challenge with the native bred animals is that they are much more backward than their Jamaican bred counterparts, which place them at a competitive disadvantage throughout the classic year. However as these horses develop into four and five year olds, they are more than capable of competing with the average Jamaican bred animal.
One is then left to wonder whether the solution to the Derby dilemma is not to push the Derby back to its December date. Derby winners having the opportunity to compete in a Gold Cup is a neither here nor there reason to not do what might be best for the
local breed. Were we to push our Derby back to December, it would be interesting to see how competitive the late maturing TT bred animal might be.
The Arima Race Club recently announced that it had concluded its long touted negotiations to resume the showing of English racing. Unfortunately, these races are not being shown on their private channels subscribed to by members, but rather, is only available in their off track betting shops. It is understood that the provider of the service would not agree to the former.
That being the case, one is left to wonder whether the ARC should have bothered to enter into the arrangement. The location of its betting shops are not convenient compared to the many private betting shops dotted across the country. In this mobile age, had the ARC been able to show the signal on their private channels, there can be little doubt that there would have been an upsurge in telephone betting given some of the advantages when compared with betting in the private betting shops.
Members having to find their way to one of the offtrack shops or worse yet to Santa Rosa Park, suggest that the initiative is unlikely to yield its maximum potential. Seeing the odds and hearing the results just will not cut it in this day and age. The Arima Race Club may be prepared to settle for a next best solution but that is not the way to move any organisation forward.
The Saturday saw the introduction of six new riders to the jockey colony in Trinidad and Tobago. We welcome those riders to the fraternity and can only hope that adequate measures will be implemented to ensure that they are not contaminated from an early stage. In this regard, conspiracy theories are surfacing once again about illicit activities taking place in the paddock involving various named jockeys.
Of course, we have been there before and where there is smoke there is normally fire. Those responsible for the integrity of the sport need to enhance their efforts to eradicate these negatives from the sport.
It is alleged that while jockeys are randomly searched for electric devices at the start, no such check is done of the stalls handlers. To avoid this sort of conversation, a random check of these individuals should also be introduced. It is alleged that various individuals are having private conferences with jockeys aimed at influencing theoutcome of pre-determined races.
To avoid this sort of conversation, the ARC needs to increase its scrutiny of daily races, install more cameras around the track to increase supervision of activities and engage the services of professional investigators to ferret out any issues. No costs should be spared to ensure the integrity of the sport.
Generally speaking, more innovative and visionary ideas are required from the administrators at the Arima Race Club. It is never too late so we can only look forward to the management committee showing us in 2015 what we have not seen previously.