With the information age driving wagering, there is no question that on this side of the Atlantic Ocean horse racing is losing ground to all other major sports. What is amazing is that the 1930 inaugural claiming system, which is based on non-genuine classification of horse populations that has resulted in precipitous progressive decline of support for the Sport Of Kings, is still in existence 94 years later.

In the jurisdictions of Eurasia, including the British Isles as well as continental Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, India and further in Africa as well as Australia and New Zealand, horse racing has no such existential threat. Unlike the limited and challenged American operatives, real nuanced racing knowledge, which has been absent from Jamaica, exists in these countries. In contrast, there will be no departure from genuine classification which ensure horses of similar ability compete to drive wagering in these successful jurisdictions.

The main area of real concern for promoters in these territories is the now perpetual shortage of foals. This is exacerbated by the more than three decades of United States decline from 41,333 in 1991 to 17,200 foals in 2023. Naturally, over the same period the annual number of races promoted fell from 71,689 to 35,989 and many investors were left stranded with the closure of racetracks. It is high time the proponents of the claiming system change their position.

From a conservative anti-gaming majority American conservative ideology, there are now 38 of the 50 states where gambling is now legal but leaves horse racing unable to take advantage of this evolution. However, the US Jockey Club has responded and has tasked the Equibase Company to move to classification, which effectively is moving to a system of handicap races.

The provably and misguided mimicking of and to perpetuate the flawed 1930 US claiming system has been a disaster for the local racing industry. The main mistake made in the horse racing industry was changing the way people owned horses. Initially, owning a racehorse was a hobby for wealthy people who enjoyed the sport.

However, the industry shifted its focus to make people believe that buying and selling racehorses could be a profitable business venture. This idea was flawed and didn’t work out.

As a result, the industry lost its original appeal and charm, and the number of owners and participants declined. The focus on making a profit from trading horses rather than enjoying the sport led to the downfall of the industry.

There was also another immediate negative impact. The incomprehensible nature of the claiming system changed the profile of the racing product from one of mass appeal to niche market status. This ensured that the product could not possibly benefit from population and economic growth, of which both have now exceeded an expansion of at least 33 per cent in the 33 years since claiming.

In 1959 the completion of a new racetrack at Caymanas was like moving from midnight to dawn instantly with sand replacing the uneven grass surface of Knutsford Park, now New Kingston. This was an 1,820-metre circuit with a straight course of 1,000 metres with a chute of 600 and then another of 400 metres to accommodate races exceeding 1,400 metres on the backstretch. This made Caymanas Park most expansive in the Pan American region.

The installation of the then state-of-the-art electro-magnetic tote system at the track and the establishment of 12 off-track betting points of sale was revolutionary. Additionally in 1963, the issuance of licences to bookmakers eventually led to the establishment of 13 companies to operate over 600 betting offices islandwide.

The implementation of a Bookmakers’ Levy Scheme ensured a net annual contribution to Consolidated Fund and direct support for the breeding industry. Instead, under the seriously flawed claiming system, there was a Government guarantee of US$40 million to keep Caymanas Track Limited, the then promoting company, operational to facilitate divestment in 2017. Seven and half years in, principals of investors Supreme Ventures Limited must by now have realised there were far more challenges to this venture than was apparent then.

In 1960 the calendar offered 28 race meetings but by 1992 there were 84 with 10 per cent annual growth or 300 per cent cumulatively under the handicap system. By then there were nearly 1,000 owners and over 900 broodmares down now to under 600 and 300, respectively. Incidentally, in 1992 there was an average of 115 runners and between 11 and 12 races under the handicap system. Where is the growth under the claiming system in the US, Canada, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica?

As I have been positing for nearly 33 years, the source of the problem is not the claiming tags, but rather the complicated, customer unfriendly and insane artificial “classification” of the horse population resulting in smaller field sizes, huge number of odds-on favourites and races with freakishly wide margins of victory. This facilitates the lack of quality in the racing product with inferior horses conceding weight to superior horses in over 95 per cent of the races resulting in reduced sales turnover.