From its inception, organised horse racing has had more requirements for statistical data than any other sporting activity. The exemplary record-keeping of the English Jockey Club (EJC) and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), dating back nearly 200 years, has been adopted by all jurisdictions And, over the past 180 years, with the passage of time, its importance has increased.

Records of the performance of all horses, trainers, jockeys, grooms, and the indispensable breeders have been meticulously garnered. The pioneering British colonisers made sure that commercial horse racing, with the product delivered in a simple classification from A-G, was spread throughout the Commonwealth.

In Jamaica, reliable records have been available from the local Jockey Club since 1936.

It is interesting to note that horse racing was the premier sport for gaming before other sports emerged from the amateur strictures of the International Olympic Committee. By 1975 the establishment of digital platforms for wagering became a reality and, by the turn of the century, all bookmaking entities were licensed to conduct business accepting bets on the major sports in a potentially expansive global market.

As opposed to totally unpredictable lottery numbers, betting on the major sports has the advantage of being able to entertain. In fact, at times, the general unpredictability of the outcome of games in major sports produces drama and suspense beyond what scriptwriters of the best movies ever made could envisage.

Odds are offered on the performances of players and, in addition, there is spot wagering on various stages of most varied major events. Although horse racing has the capacity to entertain, unfortunately, because of its complicated nature, it is failing in the gaming market to compete effectively with other major sports in the Pan American region.

Whilst in the British Commonwealth countries and the Western democracies of Europe, there was no departure from the EJC/BHA methodology of the classification of horse population for handicapping. However, in 1930, the mathematically challenged Americans opted to invent a claiming system featuring an artificial division of their horse population.

By the way, Pan American means Canada in the North down to Chile in the south, and all other mediocre horse racing jurisdictions in-between. The adoption of claiming may have served these promoters well up until 1990, when sports betting, the consummate competitor, emerged. Generation Z has not bothered to deal with the complications of the claiming system.

The last three decades have seen nothing but a precipitous decline of the racing industry in the USA and Canada. In 1992, there were 70,393 races in the USA, which declined to 30,852 by the end of 2024. Foals of 1992 amounted to 35,051, but the breeding sheds only delivered 16,675 in 2024. The US Jockey Club has now instituted a classification system similar to that of the EJC/BHA.

Canadian farms bred 1,701 foals in 2019, which plummeted to 850 in 2024. Incidentally, the Canadian peak of 7,614 races in 1991 stood at 2,697 at the end of 2024. To underscore this concerning decline, 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 now topped 345.5 million.

Truth be told, the very names of the races, such as Restricted Allowances, Maiden Condition, and Maiden Special Weights, as well as the value and meaning of claiming tags and the division of the horse population into 25 categories are not comprehensible immediately.

Gaming products thrive on simplicity, of which the claiming system is definitely lacking and therefore counterproductive in this regard. After 95 years in the United States, and 33 years in Jamaica, the racing product delivered in a claiming system format has failed to engender growth that is commensurate with population increasein the gaming market.

In Jamaica, the promotion of horse racing since the adoption of a claiming system in 1993 has been unprofitable and, in spite of being subsidided, all aspects of the industry have been in decline.

To underscore this, it is interesting to note that under the handicapping system with competent chief operatives such as Enos Miller, O D C Sharpe, and Leslie McCrae, the 29 race days in 1960 increased to 84 by 1992. This, before its growth was stymied by the adoption of the claiming system. Collectively, the Caymanas stakeholders have failed to understand the need for a racing product that can support an economically viable promoting company.