Trainers, sponsors close to agreement over purse increase
Published:Sunday | December 19, 2021 | 12:11 AMRobert Bailey - Sunday Gleaner Writer
PRESIDENT OF United Racehorse Trainers Association (URTA), Ryan Darby, says his organisation is now very close to securing a purse increase from horse-racing promoters Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL).
Darby told The Gleaner following a meeting with the SVREL on Friday that discussions over a purse increase with the promoting company have been progressing really well and he is hopeful that an agreement will be reached before the end of this year.
“We have been negotiating a purse increase and this meeting seems to be very positive,” said Darby.
“Nothing has been confirmed, but it has been positively indicated that some purse increase will take place pretty soon,” he said.
“We now await further confirmation in the coming weeks but something will be announced publicly before the year end and then we will move from there. I am quite confident that we should be able to get a sort of a purse increase until we can do better,” Darby said.
A $100-million purse increase was made in 2017 when SVREL took over the operations at Caymanas Park.
Very desperate
Darby underscored that the cost of maintaining the horses at the track has gone up significantly over the years and therefore his association is very desperate for an increase in purse money.
“It is overdue because the trainers and owners are getting a bit restless and so we need to get the purse increased so we can get the racing industry running smoothly,” Darby said. The cost of caring for the animals has been going up every day and therefore it is only right for us to be granted a purse increase at this time,” he said.
Soloman Sharpe, executive chairman of SVREL, said discussions with URTA have been progressing well and therefore they are hoping to reach an agreement in the near future.
“We had a very positive meeting and we were all on the same page and we hope to cross some t’s and dot some i’s and do some crunching to make a positive statement within the next few weeks,” said Sharpe.
“We do understand that it (purse increase) is a critical component of how the industry is going to be shaped and we have always been committed to it. We have made a lot of sacrifices in the last 24 months and we have paid out a record in the excess of $500 million in the Reggae Six which is very awesome for the industry,” he said.
Sharpe pointed out that his organisation has been affected significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic but despite this, they remained very committed to the development of the industry.
“We have certainly done a lot in the last 24 months to engage the horsemen in incentives and keep this industry together at a very tough time with COVID-19 still around,” Sharpe said.
“We have managed to keep horse racing up and running, even though the spike of COVID numbers and the recent lockdowns have affected our earning potential for us to do more. But we continue to put the industry on our shoulders in a positive way,” he said.