STAKEHOLDERS in the local horse racing business rejected a $27-million purse increase offered by SVREL during a boisterous meeting held at Caymanas Park on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, resulting in a tense stand-off.

Owners, breeders, jockeys, trainers, and grooms did not nominate their horses for racing as a result of the stakeholders’ rejection of the suggested purse increase, leading to the cancellation of last weekend’s live racing.

The stakeholders rejected the offer based on SVREL’s alleged income of $6.2 billion, but the promoting company’s Chairman Solomon Sharpe argued that the revenue earned was actually $5.3 billion.

According to a press release issued by SVREL on Saturday, the Betting, Gaming & Lotteries Commission (BGLC) confirmed thatthe figure was indeed $5.3 billion, as indicated by SVREL.

The release is published below:

“Saturday, July 15, 2023 – Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), operators of Caymanas Park, wishes to advise that the company is in receipt of the finalised sales report of local racing revenue for the January to December 2022 period from the Betting, Gaming & Lotteries Commission (BGLC).

In a letter to SVREL dated July 14, 2023, the BGLC confirmed that, following a detailed review, the commission’s reconciliation of actual live racing revenue is $5,387,525,355.19.

In June 2022 SVREL and key industry owners and trainers executed a mutually agreed contract whereby purses will be 49% of gross gaming revenue (GGR) on live racing. The purse allocation can be determined as follows: Live racing revenue – dividends = GGRx 49% = minimum purse allocation.

SVREL agreed to a minimum purse payout of $709 million in 2022, however, the actual purse payout for the period totalled $769 million. The projected purse payout for 2023 of $797 million was shared in previous meetings with representatives of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association of Jamaica (TOBA) and the United Racehorse Trainers Association of Jamaica (URTAJ) in March, April, and July 2023.

SVREL continues to prioritise transparency as one of the main pillars of its partnership with industry stakeholders, and remains open to continue discussions with owners, trainers and other relevant stakeholders to resolve this issue.”

Sales reported to BGLC6,212,270,553.00

Less: Inter-tote sales 671,675,186.79

5,540,595,366.70

Less: Sales c/f for Dec 26 & 27 2021 (153,070,011.51)

Dividend reported to BGLC(4,176,338,779.30)

Less: Inter-tote divident (381,999,771.00)

3,794,339,008.30

Gross Gaming Revenue1,593,186,346.89