the racing industry must learn from football

8/14/2019 The Racing Industry Must Learn From Football

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The Racing Industry Must Learn From Football

Less than thirty years ago, football in Jamaica, was far behind in popularity and following

than cricket. In the late seventies, when one spoke of football, one spoke of the Mannings

Cup, Da-Costa Cup, Major League and the National League. On the other hand, when

one spoke of cricket, one spoke of the West Indies, club competitions between the

Melbourne, Kingston and other clubs, in addition to “Ketch Yi Shubbi” and , “Bat By

Terms” at the village ,street and community level.

By the nineteen eighties , the face of the sport of football began to change, yes the corner

leagues, scrimmage (a form most hated by the then purists), youth club competitions,

began to take the stage. By the 1990 and early 2000s one saw the coming into being of

all types of leagues, the St. Bartlett League, the Fitz Jackson League, among others. Foot

ball invaded the Gunboat beach, “keep it up” colonized “Helshire Beach, the streets and

lanes of Kingston. Cricket was overthrown as the premier mass sport in Jamaica.

The final nail in the cricket’s coffin came with the basketball hoops growing out of light

pools, springing up on church grounds, now even Kingston College has seen the need to

have built a new basketball court. When last has any school sought to fence around spacefor a cricket ground or rolled a pitch into their now priceless football field which

incidentally was appropriated from the sport of cricket?

Today, the fortunes of cricket as a sport could well be the fortunes of the horse industry,

if immediate steps are not taken to reverse the trend. While “government” is the excuse

for the failure of all things Jamaican, the truth remains that the Government of Jamaica is

the single largest investor in the industry. Without government support over the years

the industry along with its over 10,000 jobs would have gone the way of Marlie in

Old Harbour or Knutsford Park in Kingston.

Another favorite excuse, used by some, is that they are shackled by the law and it is not

even possible to organize a legal “Gymkhana”. Nothing is further from the truth, the

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Jamaica Racing Commission Act of 1972, allows for the coming into being of all manner

and types of racecourses or racetracks, be that track be for horseracing, goat racing,

greyhound racing, crab racing or even motor bike racing. The Act does not define what

type of races or competitions which might occur on them.. In other words, all

racecourses and racetracks of what ever type on Jamaican soil fall

under the jurisdiction of the Racing Act and the Jamaica Racing

Commission.

If owners or trainers are not limited by law, from seeking approval for temporary or

provisional racecourses or racetracks, then what is it that is limiting the further growth of

the horse industry?

The answer is very simple:- Owners, Breeders and Trainers do not believe that horse

racing or horse based events can take place anywhere apart from Caymanas Park. While

in the United States –Gymkhanas and “O-Mok-See” are a must at any agricultural fair,

here in Jamaica, it is beyond imagination to think of O-Mok-See or Gymkhana at the

Denbigh Agricultuyral Fair, the Trelawney Yam Fair or the Portland Jerk Festival.

In the county of Kulin in Australia,, the annual Gymkhana –“ Kulin Bush Races” is a major

tourist attraction, offering events such as barrel races , pole bending, tent pegging etc, while in

Idaho, the Idaho State O-Mok –See , is set to pull in thousands of spectators and earn owners and

trainers millions of dollars in revenue, the organizations representing trainers, owners and

breeders in Jamaica are still waiting to see what else will the government have to send their way.

Resort and business operators in Westmoreland , with their annual “Little Bay Donkey Races” and

the community of Top Hill in St. Catherine with their own Donkey Racing fixture, have not been

waiting for owners and trainers to see that there is a potential market for horses which have not made

it to the track or for horses retiring from the track; these people are using what they have--donkeys.

The spread and popularity of equine based activities, not only serves to popularize

the sport of racing , but also of equal importance, is the fact, that they create

parallel markets for horses which are not of racing quality or for geldings and other

horses which are not suitable for breeding purposes. This has been the experience of

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the United States, France, Canada and other major centers of equine sports and equine

based activities. The over breeding of lower than acceptable quality horses for the racing

industry, has created the space needed for enterprising trainers and owners venture into

new activities and creating as a result new markets for horses.

Unlike in other countries, where owners and trainers are faced with uphill battles to get

approval for their ventures, here in Jamaica, the racing industry is blessed with having

Dr. Bartlett of the Jamaica Racing Commission, who is a Member of Parliament his elder

brother the Hon Ed. Bartlett, the Minister of Tourism a fan of the sport of kings, and the

Racing Act on their side, as well as a Government whose membership has more than a

few owners of race and or polo horses. It is time to stop complaining.

Basil Fletcher

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the racing industry must learn from football

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