Howard Hamilton - Horse Sense
THE OWNERS Association held their annual general meeting on Sunday, April 6, at the Four Season Hotel. As expected the meeting was well attended and once again emphasised the widening divide that exists between the racing interests and the governing bodies responsible for racing.
This Government does not understand the problems which they created for themselves when they "socialised" the ownership of the promoting company. They added more fuel to the fire by "broadening" the entrants to the industry. Now we have more "trainers" than horses.
The iniquitous claiming system has also added to the "broadening of entrants" and we now have on our hands a monster which is going to be very difficult to tame.
SERIOUS CONCERNS
The meeting on Sunday reflected the very serious concerns facing the racing industry. The mood was set by the underlying theme that Government has no interest in racing other than as a source of tax collection.
The Government was the only group making any money from the industry. The time has come, the meeting determined, for some fundamental changes to take place - if the industry is to survive.
It is very difficult to fault the sentiments expressed at that meeting. From my own perspective as the President of TOBA, I know the frustrations which we face in dealing with the various government agencies.
a) The constant harassment which our member face with respect to the payment of GCT on the proceeds from the disposal of the products of their farming activities. Even in the face of reasoned argument that an error was made in the wording of the GCT act when this was amended back in 1993.
b) The refusal of the ACB to provide assistance for the breeding of horses even though this activity has long been legally gazetted as falling within the farming classification and therefore in line for all the benefits offered to farmers.
In this regard, the Ministry of Agriculture needs to much more proactive. They assist with the breeding of goats and cows why do they not therefore recognise the tremendous potential that exists in the breeding of horses?
Let me remind them that Jamaica once had the largest horse-breeding establishment in the world and produced quality animals that were exported primarily to England. Maybe it is this Ministry that can take the lead role in emphasising the value and the potential of this important industry.
PURSES
But back to the meeting of the owners, among the many points discussed was the very vexed question of purses. These have not been adjusted since 1998 and since then costs have risen for the keep and care of a horse from a basic $450 per day in 1999 to $800 per day in 2002. My understanding is that another increase is pending due to recent adjustments in the cost of animal feed (J$283/bag of 100lbs. to J$324).
Purses are determined from a deduction of eight per cent from a turnover of local racing and three per cent from the turnover of simulcast racing. There is also a contribution from the bookmakers' levy scheme which is an area of contention since the promoting company is constantly out of pocket because of the late payment of this contribution.
There is already a deficit in the amount budgeted for purses, sales are down, bookmakers are reporting some 30 per cent reduction in their sales and the promoting company had a lower turnover in the period 2001-2002 compared the period 2000-2001.
Preliminary figures for 2002-2003 are far from encouraging. I am not surprised at this downturn in sales within the racing industry since I predicted that the odds offered by the Cash Pot Game introduced in 2001 were much more attractive than those offered at the race track and it was inevitable that people would gravitate to playing this game rather than playing the horses.
Since purses are determined from the amount wagered on the horses, you can see where we are heading when competing forces reduce the amount wagered on horses.
Next week we will look at an analysis of the average daily charges made by trainers and relate this to the average income from purses.
Howard Hamilton is a former chairman of Caymanas Track Limited. He is the current President of Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. He can be contacted by e-mail at howham@cwjamaica.com.