While the Jamaica Racing Commission’s (JRC’s) primary responsibility is to maintain the integrity of the horse racing product, Chairman Clovis Metcalfe says the organisation has always supported initiatives aimed at providing assistance to occupational groups that have made significant contributions to the industry and sport.

The JRC has recently partnered with the Jamaica Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Foundation (JTHF) to aid abandoned horses and stakeholders experiencing financial challenges.

“So we’re forming a partnership with them [JTHF] in the best interest of not only abandoned horses and all that, but many of the stakeholders who have fallen on bad times,” Metcalfe told the Jamaica Observer.

“And some [horsemen] really have because it’s coming to attention that some of the stakeholders are living in the stalls. So we are coming together to ensure what we can do to help and to get a lot of these abandoned horses off the road.

“Caymanas Park is getting a bad name for it because any horse that is on the road, although it might never have been a racehorse or had anything to do with the track, gets blamed. So we are going to take on that responsibility. We have to do it and care for these animals who have been abandoned by their owners.”

Metcalfe said that the initiative includes the identification of a 10-acre property in St Catherine intended for development to house abandoned horses. He added that plans are also in place for a jockey training programme and groom training, with veterinarians Dr Sophia Ramlal and Dr Simone Johnally offering to conduct training sessions.

Metcalfe said that there’s an intention to establish health facilities after reports that 75 per cent of grooms suffer from high blood pressure, prompting collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Wellness for regular checks.

“That was an eye-opener for us, and we have asked that the Ministry of Health help us on a monthly basis to continue these checks and try to address that concern,” Metcalfe said.

“But, all in all, it is a partnership that we want to build on to move the racehorse industry further. It’s in its early stages, so we are expecting that the horsemen group will provide us with their articles of association and memorandum so we can see exactly where they are going. So we know how to build this partnership. But it is long overdue.”

Metcalfe said that the condition of groomsmen and other stakeholders is the result of low income. He said that this initiative with JTHF seeks to provide support and recognition for this critical but often overlooked group, highlighting their importance in the racing industry despite their low-income status.

“They are at the bottom of the scale, and quite honestly, what they are earning is very, very small,” he said. “Most of them have to probably care for three or four horses, which makes it difficult to reach what is considered a reasonable income.

“So it is a focus group for us now that we want to concentrate on, you know, because they are unheralded, and yet to me, they are probably the most important group, after the owners, in the racing industry because they have to care for animals that cost four or five million dollars.

“They still fall to the bottom, and we have to do something about it. We have started by having discussions with them to hear how they are thinking because, at the last seminar, a lot of them expressed concern about the conditions that they are living under. As I said, it is a team effort. This Horsemen’s Foundation, along with the JRC or at least a committee from the JRC, will hopefully try and raise funds.

“We are going to ask the promoters [Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment] probably for one per cent out of purses and other avenues that we can move this money to care for the abandoned horses and to care for like the grooms and those who are falling into hard times. So there is a plan ahead with this aftercare.”

Senior JRC veterinarian Ramlal says that this collaboration with the JTHF is the necessary model if they are to sustainably help stakeholders in the racing sector.

“In the horse racing world, we often say aftercare is not an afterthought,” she said. “We have a responsibility to our stakeholders, horses and humans, to prepare for their retirement so that when the time comes they are able to transition to other careers or just to retire from the sport with some amount of dignity.” Ramlal told the Observer.

“The recent fund-raising event by JTHF was one of those events that tried to bring focus to how we could go about doing that through partnerships. I was very happy, and the commission was very happy to have key players on board.”