There is a long-running debate as to, who are the most important actors in the horse racing sector.
Is it the owners, trainers, jockeys, grooms, punters, administration, breeders, horses, etc? Each one of those actors has its advocates and its detractors. Some proffer that they are equally important. There is an equal debate about who has the most to lose if horse racing was to be shut down in this country.
Again, each one of the players has those who argue for or against their claims of being the biggest loser. While it is not clear which one might be the biggest loser, the majority opinion is that it is not the owners. The owners purchase the horses and clearly, if the sport is shuttered, that investment/expenditure would be lost but whatever the original source of the investment/expenditure – their livelihood - would remain and life would continue for them. On the other hand, many of the other players identified would have to find a new livelihood.
Given the imbalance between who might be the most important actor and the fact that one of those actors has the least to lose by the loss of the sport, it continues to be a conundrum as to how the Arima Race Club (ARC) repeatedly shows the least respect to the owners in the sport. The latest example of this was the recent decision to cancel the second day of the 2025 racing season without any consultation with the industry’s players.
A racing calendar that has already shrunk to around 12 or 13 racing days was unilaterally reduced by the administrators of the sport, no doubt taking the attitude of “Who vex, lorse”. This arrogance, which is displayed at all levels of society in T&T, is galling when the entity with the least to lose by its non-survival is the target of the hubris. Trainers will continue to be paid their monthly training fees, jockeys and grooms will continue to be paid for exercising or looking after the horses, the horses will continue to be fed, punters will find something else to bet on and the employees of the ARC will continue to be paid. The owners who fund all of this, will not even have the enjoyment of seeing their animals run (having long since given up on any financial return from the winning of prize money which is paid many months in arrears (if at all)).
It is therefore hardly surprising that the number of owners in the sport has continued to shrink. One wonders whether the administrators of the local sport, ask themselves why so many Trinbagonian owners now have horses running in Barbados and other parts of the world.
Many of our long-time owners have not quit the sport, they have quit the sport in T&T. The disrespect that they continuously face must be one of the big reasons. The reason put forward, on the grapevine, for the cancellation of day two was the poor betting turnover of day one and the concern that with Carnival season in full flow, the many activities would detract from attendance resulting in another poor betting turnover. Contrast, this thinking with that of the Barbados Turf Club (BTC), which considered its Cropover Celebration period as the perfect opportunity to increase the sport’s patronage by tying some activities to its day of racing.
Contrast, this thinking with that of the BTC which installed floodlights at its track to be able to offer night racing to its public to entice an evening crowd short of night entertainment. Contrast, this thinking with that of the BTC who would stage regular racing days in the middle of the week to attract an after-work audience. One just has to look at the information which the BTC makes available to its turfites on its webpage to understand the vast difference in the thinking of the two bodies. One can only be amazed at how badly wrong the administration of the sport in this country has gotten. Although still very nascent in its revival, there is little doubt that Guyana’s racing will overtake T&T's shortly, if it has not already done so.
The ARC needs to up its game, in terms of inclusion, if it truly wants to survive. The more owners that walk away from the sport in T&T, the more likely its future is damned. Respect, communication, and consultation will go a long way to ensuring that those with the least to lose by the closure of the sport, remain committed to its survival.
In the meantime, perhaps the need for new ideas demands a new proactive administration filled with innovative thought processes and modern ideas...out with the old heads and in with young Turks (if they still exist).
