Caymanas deduction dispute settled
Published:Wednesday | July 22, 2020 | 12:06 AMRobert Bailey/Gleaner Writer
Following a lengthy two-hour meeting on Monday involving representatives from promoters Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL) and United Racehorse Trainers Association (URTA), the promoting company has decided to cut its planned purse-money deduction in half for the month of June.
SVREL had initially stated that they would deduct $4.3 million from purse money offered on races, to help offset operation costs incurred during the three-month lockdown of racing at Caymanas Park due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This move was strongly challenged by several stakeholders and following Monday’s sit-down, SVREL and URTA eventually agreed to a $2.16-million reduction in purse money for the month of June.
Ryan Darby, president of URTA, told The Gleaner that while his group is still unhappy with the decision to reduce purse monies, the compromise was made in the best interest of the sport.
“We didn’t want to pay anything at all for June, but in the best interest of racing, we have reached a compromise of dividing the bill payment for June in half,” said Darby.
“We are not totally happy with it, but in the interest of racing, we all agreed that the negative publicity and fight would not be worth going any further,” he said.
SIGNIFICANT LOSSES
Darby underlined that the trainers and owners have suffered significant losses during the lockdown of racing and cannot afford any further disruption.
“This new agreement has ironed out any disruption of racing happening going further, because the COVID-19 pandemic has really affected us a lot and so we cannot afford any more interruption of racing at Caymanas Park,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lorna Gooden, general manager of SVREL, said her organisation took into consideration the situation being faced by the trainers and owners, while resolving to push the sport forward.
“The meeting went well in our view, and arising out of this meeting, SVREL has once again agreed to exercise some compassion in hearing the pleas put forward by the trainers,” said Gooden.
“This is indeed a win-win for everybody, because we believe that we have come out with an amicable position,” she added. “SVREL is absorbing some costs and the trainers have indicated that they were also in a loss position, but we see better days ahead as we work together to move the business of racing forward.”