Poor garbage collection and a prolonged water shortage at Caymanas Park have hit trainer Ryan Darby – a young man with a grand mission to one day become a champion trainer, and he is not at all encouraged by the hardship currently being endured by other trainers and himself.

According to Darby, the prospects to realise his ambition “look bleak, unless some radical improvements are undertaken to improve the unwholesome conditions for horses at Caymanas Park. We produce some of the finest trainers and breed some of the finest horses in Jamaica, yet at present, the place is more of a ‘fly farm’ than an area for raising and training thoroughbred horses for racing, by the indifferent manner of the garbage collection along with other amenities at the track,” Darby revealed.

“The preparation of horses for racing at Caymanas Park,” Darby disclosed, “is one of the most difficult and challenging jobs there is.

“Some people may think that it is a simple task to just get up and give instructions. No! It challenges the trainer to complete his job in a professional manner in order to produce a horse for racing. The grooms are difficult. You have the exceptional ones, but it is very difficult to stay on top of things. But it is your duty to stay on top of it.

“The conditions at Caymanas Park are unfit for racing in many aspects. Leaving my stable area, you may observe that there is a big pile of garbage, spread out at the entrance to the stable. This attracts flies. This appalling condition continues within the entire Caymanas Park complex.

“This situation has developed since the bin collection system was abolished and no consistent alternative system was put in its place.

“All that we do now is to put the horse’s dung and garbage on the outside of the gate and the tractor comes to take the unwanted material away”, Darby related to Complete Racing Guide.

How often is this collection done? Darby said he was not sure: “It could be once or twice a week. But what is certain is that garbage is left on the ground and I imagine that is how you raise flies if you were conducting a ‘fly farm’,” he said.

“There is also a water problem at the track going two months now, and it appears that there is no urgency in having the problem solved by having repairs done to get the pump and well back into operation.

“Any veterinarian will tell you that dehydration, from the lack of water, is the biggest problem a horse will face, and this is more so, especially with the current heat wave. We are having a very serious issue and it is not being taken seriously,” Darby pointed out.

“With the untenable situation continuing, Government – who takes a large slice of the racing pie – needs to step in and improve the situation through more responsible management, or have the place divested quickly so as to bring its major assets under greater supervision for the survival of horse racing and maintain them under much better conditions,” Darby said.