AS of tomorrow, it will cost punters more to wager on bets offered by the promoters of local racing. The minimum stake for win, place, exacta, quinella, double event and the triple is now $50, up from $40. For the exotic wagers — Pick-9, Sunrise-6, Twilight-6, trifecta and superfecta — the minimum now stands at $10, which represents a 100 per cent increase. The Complete Racing Guide sought the responses of racing fans on the issue of the increase.

MARVIN CAMPBELL

Boy, I disagree with the increase. The increase does very little or nothing at all for the patrons, those people who spend their money from raceday to raceday for both entertainment and profit. When a man knows that he has set odds to work with and he bets his money, he can calculate his winnings straight off as in the Cash Pot and other gaming plays. But with racing you have two horses dead-heat with one a favourite and the other at a certain higher odds. What happens in such a situation is that the dividends are combined and then split into two, which seems to rob you of a decent return at the end of the day, as you suffer the loss instead of gain. Situations like these drive punters away from racing. So raising prices is not a positive move until punters are ensured of profit for their dollar value.

PATSY BLAKE

If you have to raise prices, let it appear that you are doing something for the patrons. Any increase without tangible benefits to those who support you means nothing. This is why you find the lottery games are getting so popular and sweeping the carpet from under the feet of local horseracing. It may be a little harder than the racehorse to win but it is better to run the risk, because when you connect you get something on your money. Even though you buy one horse at 99-1 and connect — say you spend $20,000 on the bet, if you should spend that money on Cash Pot and win, you will raise far more for that money than on racing. That means that the operators of Caymanas Park should encourage the horseracing fans to stay with the sport with attractive offers.

ANDREW WAUCHOUPE

Yes man, I feel it is a good thing. When you look at it, the more money you put in is the more you would get out. When you buy a bet and win, you are looking for more profit on your money. So this is probably the best thing to do. Look at it this way: if you do not have much money to spend on a bet, bet what you have and you would win accordingly. This is how I see it.

ERROL COOMBS

At this time a price increase is a bad move. The economics of the day does not work out in a positive move for punters. Things tough. Most people who truly love racing and play the horses for enjoyment and some profit, will now be forced to stay away. It is a lose-lose situation, not a winning one. My view is that instead of trying to milk the racing faithful, the powers that be could be more inventive and creative by offering other areas of gambling by providing other betting options. The increase will not only reduce attendance, but will also dry up the betting activity appreciably. It is not good to be penny wise and a pound foolish for many of us may turn up to watch racing because of a love for the sport, but still will not draw the funds out of the pocket because enough is not in there to draw out.

RAYMOND YOUNG

I have been coming to racing from a little boy and this is the scantiest I have ever seen the Park. The price increase for bets will only serve to make attendance scantier. This is something they should think about before any increase. They are providing an entertainment that we are willing to pay for, and if it is priced out of our hands that is poor business management. With the work situation so critical, I think it was not the best time to introduce a price increase

IMRAN CAMPBELL

I love racing and the increase will not affect me, but the fewer of us attending will cast a negative shadow on racing. This is bad timing for an increase with nothing to show for it.

CARTHAUSHA HOWARD

I cannot say whether the increase will have a negative impact on local racing. All that I know is that I love Jamaican racing compared to what obtains in Canada. For instance, if you were to buy a horse in Canada to place and it shows you have no money to collect, while in Jamaica if the horse shows you win something, which is a good thing. I am trying to learn something about Jamaican racing as I would like to do some business in the sport down here in the near future.