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Ainsley Walters | Caymanas running lame (Part 2)

Published:Monday | October 14, 2019 | 12:00 AMAinsley Walters/Guest Columnist
MY SISTER (centre), with Dane Dawkins aboard, wins the ninth race at Caymanas Park on Saturday. Ian Allen/Photographer

Claiming and condition races can prove competitive for bettors in North America because the thoroughbred racetracks, between Canada and the United States, are graded in terms of quality of purses and outnumber Jamaica’s 100-1.

Connections of horses in North America have the luxury of moving their animals from track to track in search of fair competition under a system of claiming and conditions, which, because of the sheer number and quality of horses in either ­jurisdiction, works for them.

Any North American racetrack can put on a non-winners-of-two race, an event for horses that have only won one race, and get horses entered from a multitude of circuits. Hence, the competition is varied and betting competitive at level weight, unless there is a really outstanding horse in the event.

However, in a one-track scenario, Caymanas Park, how can it be justified to have horses in non-winners-of-two, three, four, and up to five, carry almost the same weight in their respective categories, and not take into account class shown in winning previous races, by allotting weight to compensate for ability, creating fair and competitive racing, spurring punters to bet more and create profitability for the ­promoting company?

Jamaica has only one racetrack and cannot stage competitive racing by splitting a meagre horse population into nearly 20-odd betting ­categories in the name of condition racing, resulting in seven-horse fields with only two real betting interests. Nor can the island afford to have a ­claiming system in which horses are arbitrarily entered on low claiming tags, plundering the promoting ­company’s purse money against inferior rivals with no betting to show.

DISINGENUOUS

Disillusioned supporters of claiming and condition racing will quickly raise their hands from the back of the class to say previous Jamaican governments had to use various measures to bail out Caymanas Park, even while handicapping and rating was being practised prior to 1993.

However, they are either unaware or downright disingenuous to not point out that betting was either steady or grew, year-over-year, during handicapping and rating, and the reason why the various promoting companies lost money was because of poor management, coupled with an archaic tote system, which was unable to process new betting offerings that existed elsewhere in the world.

After the new totalisator system was installed in 1989, under handicapping and rating, not claiming and conditions, as SVREL’s website incorrectly states, Caymanas Track Limited’s handle moved from $80m to $91m in 1990.

Despite taking a significant 1988 Hurricane Gilbert dip of $48.8m, down from $61.7m in 1987, the promoting company’s handle almost doubled, to $80m, in 1989, even though an equine-influenza outbreak had forced a shutdown almost similar to that of the hurricane year.

Do those figures and facts support the argument that betting revenues were floundering under handicapping and rating?

However, SVREL’s website, obviously in support of claiming and conditions, erroneously states, “The horse-racing industry began to flourish” in 1989, because of “the implementation of the claiming system of races”, which “allowed for different types of races to be added to racecards. Additionally, more exotic bets were made available to punters such as the exacta, trifecta, superfecta, Hi 5, Pick 6 and Pick 9”.

If SVREL wants to continue down what is obviously a ruinous path for the local racing industry, it’s totally its business until it decides to hop out. However, despite divestment, the Government of Jamaica has a duty to fulfil, just like the North Americans do by ensuring their industry survives off the spoils of casinos.

The Government needs to safeguard hundreds of millions of dollars in investment by owners and breeders, its own tax revenue, and thousands of related jobs, by doing what is right and order the Jamaica Racing Commission to immediately fulfil its regulatory mandate of having the promoting company conduct a fair and equitable system of racing to benefit the entire industry, which is certainly not claiming and conditions in its present form.

Ainsley Walters, better known as ‘Jimmie’, is a veteran horse racing journalist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and ainsley.walters@gleanerjm.com.