Gordon: CTL board not a 'one-man band'

The deputy chairman of Caymanas Track Limited (CTL), Raphael Gordon, has dismissed claims made by Thoroughbred Owners & Breeders Association (TOBA) president Howard Hamilton that the CTL board "seems to be a one-man band".

Hamilton, who is a former chairman of CTL, slammed the Tony Hart-led board of CTL in his weekly column, noting that the chairman, having realised the futility of his mission, has handed over to the deputy chairman who, he claimed, "is guided by his accountant training".

But in a detailed response on Wednesday Gordon, who is chairman of the board's finance committee, said:

"The CTL board is made up of independent, well-thinking individuals. Issues are discussed and the board makes a decision based on majority votes.

"The board chairman and board members are a very hardworking team and the comment that it appears to be a 'one-man band' is an insult to all the directors."

Gordon added that his commitment to racing as an owner for over 30 years, a racehorse breeder and a long-standing member of TOBA was beyond question.

He said the January 1, 2010 Track & Pools showed that "my horses started 128 times in 2009 and so far for 2010, I have had 94 starts."

Committed to racing

He said the members of the board were all people who were committed to racing.

"The board chairman is a racehorse owner and breeder, one of the directors is a breeder, owner and a trainer, and another director a former racehorse trainer. As directors, we are obliged to carry out the stakeholders' mandate," he said.

Continuing, the obviously peeved deputy chairman said, "Hamilton needs to get the facts from Mr Azan (Richard), the TOBA representative who addressed the directors on October 21, 2010 meeting," in reference to the Revolving Loan Fund issue, about which Hamilton wrote that, from his understanding, there would be no replenishment of the fund because the current board had refused to abide by the binding decisions of previous boards regarding the $20 million allocation to assist owners in the purchasing of horses.

In seeking to set the record straight, Gordon explained that the board took a decision to determine how much is owed by the revolving loan fund and augment it to the $10 million as per the 2007 agreement.

Audited statements

"TOBA was also advised that requests for two consecutive years for audited financial statements were not afforded the courtesy of a response up to today, despite follow-up.

"I am aware that TOBA has audited financial statements, as I received them as a member of TOBA at their 2010 annual general meeting, but did not use it or make it available for CTL's purposes."

Regarding the increase in takeout of 32 per cent, Gordon said:

"The writer may look at your Track & Pools publication, where each local racing dollar sale is broken down in its components of payout as dividends 67 per cent, purses 24 per cent, bet winning tax one per cent, Off-Track Betting parlours four per cent and CTL four per cent. A payout of 75 per cent on win/place would increase payout to approximately 70 per cent and leave only one per cent to CTL.

"A payout of 80 per cent, as is being sought by the writer, would result in a negative contribution to CTL, which receives no assistance from the government.

"The writer raised the issue in a letter to the board chairman last year and a response was sent requesting him to assist racing interests in lobbing the government to have a percentage of all betting, gaming and lotteries activities coming to racing, as is done in a number of countries, where eight per cent or nine per cent goes to racing.

"If this is obtained, adjustments can be made to pay out percentages.

"In CTL's meeting with stakeholders in August 2010, a comment was made by a TOBA member that he was unaware of such a letter and request.

"Regardless of who is on the board at CTL, there will always be critics. Different interest groups are pushing their own agenda. I shall continue to work with my fellow directors, management staff and all the stakeholders in our effort to increase the revenue potential and viability of CTL.

"The company's three-year strategic plan for 2010 to 2012 was updated to cover 2011 to 2013, and the board is working towards divestment, in the manner outlined to us in our first meeting, within the two to three-year time frame given to us."

In closing, Gordon said that despite the mid-year legislative amendments which extended opening hours for the bookmakers from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. to the detriment of CTL, there have been some positives.

These include the recent partnership with Supreme Ventures Limited's Justbet for the purchase of Justbet fixed-odds wagers at CTL's OTBs islandwide; the success of new exotic bets like the Pick-4, Hit-6 and overlapping Super-6, upgrading of equipment, staff training and the pending introduction of slot machines.

- O.C.