The 2024 Carnival season is a short one this year but the racing season hasn’t really benefited since there aren’t much horses to race in any event.
The opening day of the 2024 racing season, as occurred in 2023, occurred in late January and all signs are this season will be just as challenging for connections of racehorses as last year was.
On the positive side, racegoers were treated to a refurbished Santa Rosa Park (Arima) though the proposed imposition of a small entrance and parking fee is sure to disenfranchise a few racegoers. It is a probably reasonable move but the Arima Race Club (ARC) management will have to keep their ears to the ground to get a good feel as to how racegoers react to this change. Improved facilities aside, most racegoers will more appreciate more competitive races which is only possible if the Club can find a way to get more horses to their facility.
In the meantime, there are a lot of small things to be corrected with some degree of urgency. Over the weekend, there were some problems with the ambulance service which resulted in the ambulance being unavailable on certain gallop days. This needs to be addressed and resolved amicably because racing is not possible without an ambulance service present.
Given the lengthy period between race days, the objective should be to try to get as many of the horses to compete on each day which would depend on the ability of the handicappers and the race framers to make conditions competitive for all connections. Both groups will continue to be tested each race day and thus far, they have not excelled.
Another possibility that should be explored given the paucity of race days is to try to make each race day more of a family occasion. This would require the ARC to pursue partnerships with entities involved in providing family entertainment. One can think of using the infield or other areas to host fairs and the like which will bring families to the track and hopefully, some betting could take place as an aside.
It also appears as though the ARC was able to resolve some of its issues with the providers of the overseas races since it was noteworthy that the track was able to accept betting on the US racing from tracks like Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita Park, two of the premier tracks in the US. At the same time, they continue to maintain their relationship with Caymanas Race Track though it is unknown how much interest those races generate given the likely difficulty in understanding the form of the Jamaican horses.
With respect to the horses themselves, there were some promising performances from the juveniles on the opening race day with the likes of El Rey Sanjay, Bayou Jazz and Secret Pages all showing promise for the future. With the champion Headlines Again recovering from an injury and likely to be off the track for a few months, a few rivals to this exceptional filly should develop in the coming months. The ARC needs to explore all avenues to assist the sophomore class in developing further so that the three-year-old and over races can be more competitive and throw up enough horses to make the classic races more competitive.
On the international front, it was disappointing to learn that T&T’s contenders for the major races coming up at the Garrison Savannah may not be taking their chances after all. The trial for the Sandy Lane Gold Cup took place on February 3 with a six-year-old US import, Pat’s Sewing Machine scoring a bloodless victory over the usual Barbadian suspects, which include the nine-year-old Renaissance Frolic. Whether the T&T representatives would have been competitive in the event, no one knows but it is unfortunate that transportation issues would have denied them the opportunity to show their ability to everyone.
Regional competition is another avenue for the sport to improve throughout the region and with Guyana investing heavily in new stock, it is only a matter of time before that country’s home-bred horses begin to flaunt their prowess at the regional level. Hopefully, the future of the sport of this country is brighter than it appears at the moment.