Cliff Williams

Gulfstream Park, Hollywood, Florida:

Each winter in the United Stakes, from early January to the end of March, the Gulfstream meeting takes pride of place in terms of being the premier facility for the promotion and presentation of horseracing in the country with the schedule taking advantage of Florida's summer-like weather conditions.

Based on what has transpired so far, the 2007 renewal is likely to be one of the most competitive in recent years with its plethora of Graded Stakes races and unusually substantial purses.

This race meeting, in spite of competition from the premier West Coast track, the most important riders and trainers plying their trade in North America are attracted to the huge rewards that success brings here.

The Gulfstream Park facility is acknowledged to be one of the most attractive in North America and it is easy to see why. The fact of the matter is that no expenses have been spared to make it so and with each visit one is always more impressed than previous occasions.

Comfort

From the huge infield screen to special parking areas for jockeys there is a sense that each aspect of spectator comfort as well as that of the professionals and administrators is given very special attention.

Having been in South America again this trip and whilst I suppose it is good to spend time in places where modernisation and the delivery of goods and services is deadly serious business, it is always a little depressing when one thinks of what prevails in Jamaica and what could and should be different.

As an island with an important tourist industry I suppose it is appropriate for us to leave huge portions of the country untouched by modernisation as well as certain customs and more intact to retain intrinsic appeal.

However, certain other things, including the operation of a racetrack, ought not to be a half century behind the rest of the capitals of the racing world in terms of the quality of the product and the infrastructure of the plant.

For example, having been in different and efficiently run airports recently it only emphasizes in my view the lack of will here to develop and sustain a first class delivery of service in our operations.

Difficiencies

What is ironic about this malaise is that Jamaican administrators is a darn sight smarter than most of their counterparts those of us who travel encounter elsewhere in the world. Still the irksome and unnecessary deficiencies persist in perpetuity here.

In my last column I returned to the subject of unprofessional practices reaching a new and abysmally low level and what is amazing is that none of the flaws identified require an economic solution requiring the expenditure of financial resources.

In fact, in a lot of sectors all that is needed is for there to be a change of attitude on the part of certain of the practitioners to make a huge positive difference to service delivery.

Speaking of economic resources, the longer the plan to bring the local version of the Sport of Kings into the 21st century takes to become reality it will be the greater the financial outlay required to make it possible.

If we wait long enough there may very well come a day, not too far into the future, when it will not be feasible to afford it.