Horseracing has untapped potential in Guyana- GHRA

Horse racing, known as the ‘sport of kings’, is a popular sport in the ancient county of Berbice as persons could be seen flooding the turfs whenever races are held. However, Vice-President of the Guyana Horse Racing Authority (GHRA) Fazil Habibulla believes the sport has much more to offer.
Habibulla, the owner of Rising Sun Turf Club, said putting the necessary legislation in place to support the sport, including legalised betting, improving facilities and implementing strict safety measures for fans would see the sport develop even to the extent of being a tourist attraction.
There has long been a call from both horse owners and administrators of the sport for legislation to be enacted.
In fact, The GHRA had sent a draft legislation to Sports Minister Dr. Frank Anthony some years ago, and last year had even sent a letter as well as a copy of the draft legislation to President Donald Ramotar to meet with him on the importance of the legislation to the development of the sport.
Last year a National Sports Commission (NSC) five-member special committee was set up to review the draft horse- racing legislation.
“…because the lack of adequate legislation remains the main concern for the sport still not being properly administered.  Things are not to the level as it ought to be and people are still doing what they feel like, and we cannot nail them because there is no legislation,” The then President of the GHRA, Justice (Retd) Cecil Kennard, had explained to Guyana Times Sport in March of last year.
Kennard had also said that unless there is legislation in place, various forms of indiscretions by many unscrupulous horse and stable owners will continue to plague the sport and had noted that many owners and trainers apply questionable practices to win, including doping, which significantly shortens the life span of a race horse.
The then GHRA President had also indicated that the other problem is the encroachment of the track by bettors and spectators and should legislation be passed into law, the GHRA would impose the necessary penalties on horse- owners, trainers, jockeys and even bettors and spectators.
Contacted on Monday, Minister Anthony said the National Sports Commission is to “pronounce” on the draft legislation and then “we will move from there”.
Director of Sport Neil Kumar declined to comment.
Pari-mutuel wagering
Another mechanism that the GHRA believes could significantly boost the sport in Guyana and garner interest from horse- racing fans and owners from outside of the country, would be the re-introduction of pari-mutuel wagering.
Pari-mutuel wagering is a betting pool in which those who bet on competitors finishing in the first three places share the total amount bet minus a percentage for the management. Pari-mutuel betting differs from fixed-odds betting, in that the final payout is not determined until the pool is closed – in fixed- odds betting, the payout is agreed at the time the bet is sold.
Pari-mutuel gambling is frequently state-regulated, and offered in many places where gambling is otherwise illegal.
According to Habibulla, Pari-mutuel wagering would also mean an incentive for the tracks and revenue to government.
The turf owner noted too that once betting is legalised and standardised, it may even generate interest from persons outside of Guyana to race as well as to place bets. He noted that horse racing currently attracts spectators from Suriname and even Trinidad and Tobago.
In expressing reservations of the betting system, however, Habibulla said pari-mutuel wagering existed before, but was not very popular among betters who were skeptical of the system and preferred to continue engaging in ‘hand to hand’ betting.
The Vice President noted that the lack of proper legislation for horse racing had prevented pari-mutuel wagering from being a success.
“We can’t force the system on betters because there is no legislation.”
Meanwhile, Kennard, the Honorary President of the Kennard Memorial Turf Club, said his club would be looking to re-introduce pari-mutuel betting at races held by the club in Bush Lot, Corentyne. “We used to do it when racing took place at Durban Park years ago, but it was discontinued due to the lack of manpower.”
In fact, Mr Kennard said the club now wants to re-introduce the form of betting at the annual Boxing Day races if not before.
Kennard said he supports pari-mutuel wagering, since it may help to get rid of the current “hand to hand betting” that takes places at the various tracks. He said ‘hand to hand’ betting often results in many disagreements and fights in horse racing.
It was also noted by Kennard that the system would be computerized for quick results and accuracy. “As soon as the race is finished the dividends would be available in time for persons to bet on another race.”
Most studies on the benefits of pari-mutuel wagering show that the system could produce a broad
range of economic benefits, including promoting tourism, growing the equine industry and increasing state revenues.
Kennard, however, doesn’t believe there is need for legislation for pari-mutuel wagering since it existed before. In fact, he said clubs have been encouraged to have that system in place to eliminate ‘hand to hand’ betting and the problems that are associated with it.
“It would also help to curb encroaching on the track because if people are aware of pari-mutuel wagering, they would go to the legal and proper body that runs it.”
Police presence
One of the problems that horse racing continues to see is the dangerous encroachment of spectators and betters on racetracks and the GHRA said having a stronger police presence at tracks would be in the best interest of spectators’ safety.
“In Berbice, a lot of people have cattle and horses and they feel very comfortable being close to the track. However, we must have systems in place to prevent this, and only have persons in the winners ‘circle at the end of races. We need to get more police involved for safety reasons.”
All in all, the GRHA believes horse racing needs a much needed injection of incentives, especially with the limited amount of sponsors for races, and believes horse-racing legislation and pari-mutuel wagering could help to catapult the sport into new territory.