By Orville Clarke, Freelance WriterTOMORROW'S CRUCIAL meeting between Finance Minister Dr. Omar Davies and a wide cross section of racing interests to address problems facing the racing industry, could determine the fate of Saturday's race meet at Caymanas Park.
Dr. Davies, who has portfolio responsibility for racing, was mandated by Prime Minister P.J. Patterson to meet with industry players on June 4 following a call for his intervention at an extra-ordinary general meeting of the Jamaica Racehorse Owners Association (JROA) on May 15 at the Hotel Four Seasons.
The Owners Association threatened that if the PM had not replied to them by June 1, they would withhold nomination of horses for an indefinite period.
In a letter dated May 27 and addressed to Owners Association president Laurence Heffes, Prime Minister Patterson said Minister Davies is "prepared to convene a meeting with you at the Ministry of Finance and Planning on Wednesday, June 4 at 2:30 p.m."
The PM expressed the hope that the meeting "will result in a clearer understanding between the Government and all the stakeholers which will endure to the lasting benefit of the horseracing industry in Jamaica".
In a show of solidarity among all sectors of the industry, Heffes said his association would join with the heads of the Trainers Association, Jockeys Association, Grooms Association, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and the respective presidents of the bookmaking associations, Cecil Charlton representing the Jamaica Bookmakers Association and Xavier Chin of the United Bookmakers Association, to spearhead discussions with the Government.
High on the agenda of concerns is the recent imposition of a 15 per cent GCT on gambling, a move which Track Price Plus CEO Xavier Chin said would wipe out the legal bookmakers and play into the hands of the illegal bookies, as well as a significant upgrading of purses against the background of spiralling costs to keep a horse in training.
Chin, who made a strong presentation to a Parliamentary Committee on May 28 pointing to the counter productive aspects of the GCT, is optimistic that good sense will prevail.
"Asking a bettor to pay 15 per cent GCT on stake just cannot work in an environment that is already heavily taxed. It will drive people away from racing", he said bluntly.
Two weeks ago, Charlton of the Mandeville-based Charles Off-Course, shared the same sentiments and they are eye to eye on this issue.
According to Heffes, while not wishing to pre-empt anything, a lot will depend on what is put on the table by the Finance Minister.
"That will definitely determine the way forward. We have made our position known by virtue of the JROA, Action Plan for Racing submitted to State Minister for Finance, Fitz Jackson from late last year and other submissions to the Minister have been made from other sources.
"It's high time we begin to see some positive moves on the part of the Government re the Action Plan; but for now the two most burning issues are the GCT and purses", said the former champion owner.
According to CTL's racing secretary, Denzil Miller Jr., nominations for Saturday's race meet will be taken as usual between 8:30 and 11:30 a.m. tomorrow morning inside the Racing Office. However, The Gleaner has learnt from other sources that nominations will be held back until Thursday morning, depending on what transpires at the meeting.
