The legal adviser to the Guyana Horse Racing Authority said there needs to be urgent regularisation of the sport as it has undergone several credibility whips in recent times.
Senior Counsel Marcel Crawford told Stabroek Sport on Tuesday that the sport is being run in “a gymkhana manner”. He recalled too that the late Lloyd Luckhoo had said that he would never live to see horse racing as it was in the good old days.
Guyana’s last legitimate racing authority was the Demerara Racing Authority that was located in Durban Backlands. The body once regularized horse racing and outlined parameters for trainers and owners of horses in Guyana but it became defunct in 1972.
Crawford said he had drafted legislation over a year ago which would ensure that stables and horse owners are registered under a constituted body. It can be tabled as a private members bill or a governmental bill. Crawford said he is currently awaiting input from Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr Frank Anthony on the matter. He said that unless there is a regulatory body in place, various forms of indiscretions by many unscrupulous horse and stable owners will continue to plague the sport. He noted that many owners and trainers apply questionable practices to win including doping, or poisoning, as he calls it.
Crawford said this practice significantly shortens the lifecycle of a race horse today the animals rarely live until age five. He said in the past race horses in Guyana lived for 15 or more years.
The senior counsel said today there is rampant doping in the sport and oftentimes the drugs are administered by unqualified persons, referring to an incident on Sunday at the Kennard Memorial Turf Club Post Emancipation Day Race Meet where racehorse Kavinci died of a severe overdose of Lesix. He said too many times he would see horses unable to stand after a race then minutes later they die.
Crawford believes that widespread importation of horses add to them being treated inhumanely. He also contended that a horse will not always emerge victorious in every race it runs. He said many stables have resorted to cheating to beat these odds hence the need for standards to be set. According to Crawford Guyana has lost significant ground in the sport and pointed out that in Trinidad and Tobago the sport is conforming to requisite standards.