Going forward, certain amendments will become necessary to ensure fairness and for sustainable viability the promotion of horse racing is done in the interest of the majority. This is the position of the British Horseracing Authority — and the preferred modus operandi — in contrast to what occurs this side of the Atlantic.

Over here, the industry faces an existential threat, presenting the racing product in complicated, inaccurate classifications of the horse populations of these Pan-American jurisdictions. Despite the annual decline in the breeding industry and sales turnover, notably in the United States, where the regulatory Jockey Club has implemented a system of classification/handicapping to improve field sizes, the cult-like affinity to the flawed racing product still exists here.

Last week I looked at some of the edicts in the 1977 Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC) Racing Rules and, as promised, the analysis and interpretation exercise continues here. The rationale for this undertaking is that, in the course of time, circumstances change and render certain aspects no longer relevant. Therefore, the JRC and the promoting company must engage the requisite expertise to effect amendments and changes when and where necessary.

Eight years ago a “Classic”, pun intended, piece of idiocy was foisted on the Futurity calendar when the decision was made to adopt the now almost discredited six-week completion of the US Triple Crown (Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes) series locally. Over the last two decades, a few important trainers there with genuine Triple Crown contenders have opted to avoid this overexertion and have settled for contesting only two of three.

Obviously, this was even more deleterious to the health of the locally bred three-year-olds. The impact has been damaging as, since then, most horses doing well in the local Classics fail to make the transition to the Overnight Allowance level season after season. In fact, this phenomenon has now become something of a seasonal embarrassment.

Prior to the aforementioned “Classic idiocy”, similar to what prevails in the United Kingdom, the local Triple Crown series was staged over a six-month period in Jamaica. Each Classic, there and here, was run in spring, summer, and autumn. This is to allow for the progressive maturity process of the thoroughbreds. There can be no question the change to mimic this US knowledge deficit has not redounded to the benefit of the local racing industry.

Consequently, some changes have to be made. For the 2027 season, there should be a return to sanity with a six-month for the Triple Crown. There is no necessity for young, immature horses to race over so many furlongs collectively in the Classics, with colts and geldings allotted 126 lb and the fillies at 121 lb.

To enhance the progressive development of these thoroughbreds, their weights should be reduced by 123lb and 118lb, respectively. In fact, I am recommending that for the three remaining 2026 Classics this should be the case, as no owner or trainer can be expected to object to this benefit.

JRC Rule#73 states, “The top weight to be allotted shall not be more than 126 lbs for all races,” which is an admission that the weights carried in a race is the most important factor in determining the speed and stamina of a thoroughbred over specific distances.

There is also another important factor, in that the weights allotted determine the level of wagering in a race significantly. Following an amendment in 1992 to mimic the US claiming condition system for 33 years, JRC Rule#33 has been applied without “an assessment of each horse’s ability based on merit and performance”.

In over 80 per cent of the races projected, horses with inferior form concede weight to superior ones, yielding an average of over 40 per cent odds-on favourites on each race card. I have posited from the outset that claiming and condition races, in and of themselves, do not present a problem, but the artificially devised classification of the horse population is at the source of the 25 per cent underperformance of the racing product over the three-plus decades.

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