The Arima Race Club (ARC) recently published its revised racing programme for this month following its unexpected decision to cancel its October 3 card.
These cancellations and re-programming of races while occasioned by the uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic has made it more and more difficult for connections to develop any sort of training regime for their horses.
Trainers with horses with Classic aspirations must be particularly frustrated by the numerous changes as time and opportunities are quickly disappearing to get racehorses ready for any event.
With the Midsummer Classic scheduled to be run off on October 31, it means that there was only one race day between the Guineas on September 24 and the Midsummer Classic. With the Trinidad Derby scheduled to be run off on November 28, it means there are only two race days scheduled between the Midsummer Classic and the Derby. At this point, if recent experience is anything to be guided by, there can be no guarantee that both race days will remain on the calendar.
The uncertainty and constant need for revision of the calendar is reportedly a consequence not just of the COVID-19 uncertainty but also the Club own difficulty in fully operationalising its Mbet system. As a result of the technical challenges in getting this system to function properly, the Club is unable to attract the online betting that it might otherwise have been able to do.
In the absence of any reasonably timeframe for this to occur, and with the continued COVID-19 uncertainty, it is anyone’s guess as to the amount of race days that will be run off for the remainder of this year.
While most of this unfortunate situation is out of the control of the ARC, it must bear some responsibility for the failure of its online system and it must also bear some responsibility for its lack of willingness to build sufficient contingency into its race scheduling programme. The latter omission being particularly egregious.
Classic races are the highlight of any season and every effort should be made to have those races run off with as much attraction and fanfare as possible. Scheduling these races so close to one another, in a season such as the one we are experiencing, was always a recipe for disaster. We saw that initially with the Guineas when it had to be moved from its originally intended revised date.
The fact that, with the online systems not providing the access hoped for, the Club is finding it difficult to stage a successful race day suggests that the best hope the Club has to salvage anything from this season is time. Time for the COVID-19 curve to flatten sufficiently that the Government of T&T would allow some level of on-track attendance. This looks quite remote at this point.
The quick and dirty solution for which would be to take the decision to immediately push back all of its future feature events to later in the month of December. Bunching of the feature races around limited days is not an ideal solution when it comes to animals competing in more than one of the races but what is the sense of having horses able to compete in multiple races when the races themselves yield a negative return for the Club.
Owners are already on the wrong side of the fun versus cost equation and punters who can place online wagering on other sports are quickly turning their attention elsewhere.
At present, those employed by the owners (grooms, trainers, exercise lads) are continuing to make some level of ends meet though the race day jockeys would be seeing a significant drop in their income, but it cannot be a happy place for any of them given the uncertainty over its duration. Those employed by the Club itself are already living on reduced wages, if they are paid.
The continuation of the sport in this country can no longer be taken for granted and so it is imperative that a more concrete action plan be implemented to at least provide some signal as to the way forward in the short to medium term. In a vacuum of uncertainty and in the absence of relevant information for decision-making, most humans tend to err on the side of caution and that is the last thing that the sport needs at this time.
The ARC must provide firmer guidance as to what will happen in the next few months and this could start with redesigning its future racing programme to give those involved with the sport, not only more time to develop a plan for their future in the sport but also themselves more time for something to change in the external environment which could result in some change in their fortunes. If the Club is not willing to adopt for its own survival, it is unlikely that they will find the strength to adapt for the survival of others.
The recent announcements on Saturday, suggest that the time for Robert Bernard and his ARC team to act is now, push the leading events back to December, or face the distinct possibility of operating at a serious loss and therefore leading to horse racing bubble bursting. The self-interest of some must be neglected for the best interest of the overall sport of horse racing.
So as we wait, the current management team of the ARC, led by Bernard but including the likes of Jerry Narace, John O’Brien and others face their legacy being destroyed by any egregious decisions in the next few days.