Sunday racing axed
THERE will be no Sunday races at Caymanas Park next year. That’s the word from Caymanas Track Limited (CTL) director, Chris Armond.
The CTL executive said his organisation had axed its plans to stage several Sunday race days in 2010 because government had failed to pass relevant legislation allowing for the opening of Off Track Betting (OTB) parlours on Sundays.
“Unless we can solve our off track situation, we’re not going to have any (Sunday) racing in 2010,” Armond said.
Sales from OTB’s account for close to 70 per cent of all CTL’s revenue from punters and bettors.
“Until we’re able to sort out the situation with regards to our Off Track Betting parlours being open on a Sunday, it’s not feasible to go ahead with Sunday racing,” Armond said.
Sunday racing was formally introduced at the ‘Park ‘this year with two test runs on November 29 and December 13.
“We’ve seen the support we got at the track, but the turnover could not help us to pay all our bills that we needed to pay on the day,” Armond explained.
The decision to allow races to go ahead on Sunday had come under fire from several quarters including the Jamaica Council of Churches.
The Observer made checks with the Betting, Gaming & Lotteries Commission and was told that law requires that no OTB should be built within 200 yards of a church in a residential community, but could be opened next door to one in a commercial area.
There does, however, seem very little likelihood that any legislation allowing OTB’s to be opened on Sundays will be passed any time soon.
“The Cabinet is not out to change that position in the near future,” state minister in the Ministry of Finance, Arthur Williams, told the Observer.
Williams expressed surprise when the Observer made queries about CTL’s decision and said that to the best of his knowledge, the body had proposed a 2010 calendar with several scheduled Sunday race days to the Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC).
He added that the decision to stage races on a Sunday rested solely in the hands of CTL.
“The matter of the opening of betting shops is a policy position of the government but they (CTL) can have a race on just who is going to bet at Caymanas Park,” Williams said.
He added that CTL would need to determine whether or not to stage races in order to increase their clientele.
“They would just be earning 30 per cent of what they would be earning if the betting shops are open, but it’s their decision as to whether they want to only earn 30 per cent of their normal intake so as to promote something they hope to build for the future.”
“That’s their decision,” he reiterated.
Meanwhile, 2009’s leading trainer, Wayne DaCosta, said that the shelving of Sunday race plans had come as a blow to the major players involved.
“We were hoping that Sunday racing would have taken off and in the future we would have gotten a purse increase and racing would have looked much brighter,” he said. “But now, even if they do allow it without the bookmakers and the OTBs open, it’s going to be a major failure so they might as well axe it,” DaCosta said.