By Cliff Williams,
Contributor
THE racing industry has slowly but surely moved into a position where its viability is assured and there are positive signs that currently it is in a stage of development that will lead ultimately to full modernisation.
Having come to this realisation I am therefore disappointed that in certain areas unprofessional performances are still surfacing to give rise to the conclusion that there is still a lot of work to be done. For example, one of the two-year-old races on last Saturday's card was delayed for nearly fifteen minutes simply because the men employed as outriders have not yet developed a full understanding of their responsibilities.
It was a very delayed response from the outriders when a couple of the juveniles bolted before the start of their intended races. What compounded the problem was that one of the outriders having brought the first runaway under control had no means of knowing that it was disqualified from starting and tried to return it to the starting gate. Clearly a means of communication needs to be established here.
At this point in time the promoting company simply cannot afford to have any of its functions suffer from incompetence on the part of its employees it has to be total professionalism right the way through as the image of the sport becomes more important with the passage of time.
Another highly successful racing year is coming to a close with the best possible news in terms of sponsorship and that is the decision by the Jamaica Lottery Company to deepen its involvement in the industry in a most spectacular way. Its signing of a five-year deal for sponsorship of the Gold Cup and the Jamaica Two-year-old Stakes has ensured that the racing year ends in fine style.
The return of the Gold Cup and the field it attracted certainly brings into focus once again the need for major handicap races. From a betting point of view there is a much wider difference of opinion amongst the punters leading to increased activity at the tote. In fact the important handicap races could do well with the kind of sponsorship that elevates them into major promotions.
Competitive racing is what ultimately determines the volume of betting activity and fortunately the promoting company has been able to keep the overwhelming majority of the races in that mode. In recent times a lot more of the events have been so competitive that the punters are not finding it that easy to predict the results and there have been high-priced winners aplenty.
It therefore means that the racing product is good and has the necessary integrity to enhance its market ability. The promoting company has done a good job of taking advantage of its appeal in the marketplace but as time goes by there has to be broadening of its sponsorship base which is certainly not going to be easy.
Next week I will take a look at the performance of the industry in this year and the impact each sector has made as well as what is the likely to unfold next year. From this column its a wish for a Merry Christmas to all.
