Caymanas Park in no position to attract investors now

BY PATRICK FOSTER Observer writer fosterp@jamaicaobserver.com

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

WHILE Government is hell-bent on giving up ownership of Caymanas Park, the island's only horserace track is currently in no position now to attract investors and will have to undergo expensive upgrades to make it viable.

"If we had put up Caymanas Park for divestment in the state it was a year ago we would be at the mercy of investors," Senator Arthur Williams, state minister in the finance ministry, told yesterday's Observer Monday Exchange meeting of reporters and editors.

Williams, who has responsibility for Caymanas Park, said that he was, however, unable to give a cost for the proposed improvements or how much would be considered appropriate for the divestment of the racetrack.

He said that a board was appointed last April with the mandate to prepare the racetrack for divestment in two years, and emphasised that Government had to get out of the racing business.

"The role of Government is to monitor and regulate, but Government should not be running a racetrack,"

Williams argued.

He contended that horseracing alone could not sustain the operations of Caymanas Park and, in order to make it more attractive to investors, the inclusion of slot machines and the transmission of live races to overseas markets were the two options being pursued.

"Our target is to have simulcast racing exported to other countries... those two approaches will enhance the profitability of Caymanas Park," Williams said.

Also included in Government's revamp was the introduction of Sunday racing, but this idea never passed two racedays.

"We were looking at the decision of a total entertainment centre," Williams said, emphasising that the project was an experiment. "We wanted to see the type of support Sunday racing would get."

But, bowing to resistance from the church, the administration curtailed the opening of betting shops for the Sunday race days, severely cutting a revenue source.

Admitting that the racetrack received 70 per cent of its revenue from betting shops, Williams said that the Sunday racing venture proved unprofitable without the shops opening.

"I am willing to concede that although you had something that could grow, it is not going to be effective if the betting shops are not going to open," Williams said.

"People did not want on one of the recognised days of worship to have 420 betting shops all across Jamaica opened," he added.

Williams, however, gave indications that Sunday racing could return to the front burner, saying that four years ago no one thought that the casino bill would be approved.

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Caymanas Park in no position to attract investors now