The Government will eliminate payment of the general consumption tax (GCT) on the importation of live horses for racing, and breeding purposes at Caymanas Park in St Catherine.

Minister of Finance and the Public Sector Dr Nigel Clarke made it clear in his opening contribution to the 2023/24 Budget Debate at Gordon House, in downtown Kingston on Tuesday March 7), that he is aware that the industry is facing significant risk from the dwindling numbers of high-quality breeding stock to contest the races being promoted by Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), a subsidiary of lottery and gaming company Supreme Ventures Limited, which took over management of the park in 2017.

Dr Clarke noted that, currently, the barren state of the broodmare stock has been steadily increasing since 2010.

“In 2010, approximately 17 per cent of the broodmare stock was considered barren or not bred with reports from the Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC), indicating that in 2021 this figure increased to as much as 29 per cent,” he noted.

“Further, approximately 40 per cent of the broodmare stock registered with the JRC was either barren or not bred. The revenue measure aims to encourage the importation of better-quality horses, namely [live] mares and fillies, in order to assist the industry in terms of the number of runners,” he added.

The minister said that, in order to facilitate the new initiatives, the GCT on the importation of live horses will be eliminated.

“The House is being asked to note that the last time a revision of the tax treatment was provided on the importation of live horses was effective April 1, 2015. This saw a reduction of the common external tariff from 40 per cent to five per cent,” he told the House.

He said that the proposal is expected to improve the quality of horses coming into the island, and will also assist in rejuvenating the horse racing industry, “not only in terms of breed stock but also mature horses will improve the quality of race events”.

Dr Clarke also confirmed that the Government collected $6.3 million from the importation of the live horses in 2022. He said that the effective date for implementation will be before the end of the first quarter.

Although Caymanas Park, a former sugar estate owned by Alexander Hamilton and designed by Bartholomew Vicens-Oliver, was officially opened in August 1959, the ownership changed hands frequently over the years, until 1975 when the Government took control of the operations.

Private ownership of Caymanas Park, Jamaica’s only horseracing venue, resumed when SVREL took charge nearly six years ago.

Since taking over, SVREL has invested billions of dollars into the rebranding and revolutionising of the park, including overhauling the tote system, through a partnership with AmTote.

Considerable improvements have occurred since, including: the expansion of off track betting networks, to include, expanding racing signals in South and North America as well as the European markets. This move provided employment for more than 20,000 Jamaicans, as the island continued to dominate the breeding industry in the Caribbean region and the horsemen became household names.

However, over the years, the GCT on horses has crippled the quality and quantity of yearlings bred by a dwindling number of stud farms across the country, reducing the numbers of top-class racers.