Racing suspended as jockeys protest unpaid $$

RACING AT Santa Rosa Park, Arima has been suspended until further notice as the Jockeys Association of TT are protesting monies owed to the local riders.

As a result, the Arima Race Club (ARC) 2021 season’s Race Day Five was cancelled at noon on Saturday, a half-hour before the scheduled start of the seven-race card.

The Jockeys Association sent a letter to ARC president Robert Bernard on Friday, airing their concerns and stating their desire to withhold their services on Saturday.

In a TV6 news report on Saturday, Jockeys Association president Sheldon Rodrigo said, “For the past two years, the jockeys’ body have relied on the (ARC) in terms of their plans to pay commissions. Commissions are still outstanding for 2019, including stake races. The jockeys just want what is owed to them. We are open to any solution or intervention by the Government.”

Horse racing falls under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, not under the Ministry of Sport and Community Development.

The ARC have struggled to stay afloat due to the covid19 pandemic, which saw local races cancelled from mid-March to June 2020. The absence of fans for most of 2020 also affected the finances of the ARC, who relied almost exclusively on the online betting services to survive.

Bernard and ARC CEO Ken Ogeer, in separate interviews on Saturday, blamed the jockeys for refusing to honour their contractual agreements, forcing the ARC to temporarily close the track.

Bernard said, “We have shut everything down. We’ll just sit tight and see what happens. We’re not sure when we’ll have races again.”

Ogeer noted, “They have committed to ride the various horses (on Saturday). They have reneged on that, they say they’re not riding. The management of the Club are looking at ways and means of resolving this matter.”

Asked about the financial impact from Saturday’s cancellation of races at Arima, Bernard replied, “The Club is trying to hold the industry together. The jockeys chose to withhold their services. We have no choice. We have no jockeys so we have no racing. If we have no racing, we have no need to train any horses so there is no need to keep the track open.

“The only revenue the Club will generate going forward is from the electronic betting via the simulcast races from North America,” he continued. “It will not be enough to sustain us (though).”

Bernard hoped good sense would have prevailed between the Jockeys Association and the ARC. “It is not good for racing. We tried to convene a meeting with them (on Friday and Saturday). They refused to meet with the management so that’s where we’re at. They claim we have monies for them, which is true, but we have monies for everyone.”

According to Bernard, the ARC would have lost an estimated $40,000 from the cancellation of Saturday’s seven-race card. Top trainer John O’Brien had 11 horses in the mix for Saturday’s races. He expressed disappointment at the turn of events on Saturday.

“Everyone has a case, in light of what’s going on,” he said. “The ARC may have to take a step back and get issues resolved with the Government.”