The following quotes are extracted from the US Racing Post publication: “The subject of an alternative to claiming races was first raised at the 2020 Jockey Club Round Table by then-Maryland Jockey Club President Sal Sinatra, who suggested the United States develop a handicap rating system similar to what is used in Europe and Australia.”

“A little more than five years later, Equibase is set to introduce a system that will assign a computer-generated performance number for virtually every thoroughbred racehorse in training in North America, giving racing secretaries around the country a new tool to help write race conditions.”

“The rating is based on multiple factors, with higher ratings indicating a higher class of horse. The rating will change regularly throughout a horse’s career. Similar to the numeric system in place in Europe and Australia, Equibase ratings could be used as early as Oct. 24 at Santa Anita.”

“That’s why we have: fewer tracks, fewer owners, fewer trainers, fewer horseplayers, declining handlers, fewer fans,” he said. “Yet the leadership fools see record prices at the top and think the sport is thriving. It’s not. It’s dying.” This quote is from Mike Repole, one of the most heavily invested owners of thoroughbreds in the United States, who is incensed by the high cost of yearlings, which can be explained.

The last three decades have seen nothing short of a disastrous decline of the racing industry in the USA. In 1992 there were 70,393 races in the USA, which declined to 30,852 by 2024. Foals of 1992 amounted to 35,051, but the breeding sheds delivered only 16,675 in 2024. What is greatly concerning is the US pari-mutuel handle of US$9.6 billion in 1992, with 255 million inhabitants, was only US$11.6 billion in 2024, although the US population has reached 345.5 million. In the US and elsewhere, the claiming system has failed!

Against the background of a $149-million loss in 2012 and $98 million in 2013, divestment was elevated to a demand by the International Monetary Fund as the Government subsidy had reached $US40 million and rising.The racing product could have been changed but handicapping was rejected by prominent operatives of the Thoroughbred Owners & Breeders Association and the United Racehorse Trainers Association of Jamaica.

The classification of the Caymanas horses in each race has been published in this newspaper for the last 14 years in Prediction/Odds, which has been largely ignored, as TOBA and URTAJ continue to remain oblivious to the importance of handicapping, while demanding increased purses.

Despite the available data confirming the spectacular 300 per cent cumulative growth of the industry under the handicap system in its 32-year existence, what was most mystifying in 1993 is that the regulators, promoters, owners and trainers accepted two false premises. Firstly, the handicap system racing product lacked integrity, and secondly, the trading of racehorses is a viable economic activity. This was promulgated by the misguided architects of the imposition of the unviable USA claiming system.

The industry will not flourish again until the fingerprints of these conspiracy theorists are removed from the racing product. The struggles of the racing industry were eminently predictable, with several negative factors impacting the likelihood of growth. As a matter of common sense the division of the horse population into 25 categories, ensuring smaller field sizes with a huge number of odds-on favourites, should have been rejected outright.

Also, for the most part, as a gaming product the claiming format lacked simplicity and was difficult to comprehend by the average person, including owners and trainers. Anyone with even a limited understanding of marketing would recognise that this product was unlikely to grow the customer base and, by extension, the industry.

Only at the Graded Stakes level is there any attempt at handicapping by the SVREL appointees. This means there is no recognition that, given the impact of the weights on the betting competitiveness of any race, whether claiming or not, all should be treated similarly. The absence of competent handicapping renders inferior horses conceding weight to superior ones, creating odds-on favourites which reached a record 389 in the 755 races in 2024.