President of the Grooms Association of Jamaica Fabian Whyte says a redundancy exercise involving grooms which is currently taking place at Caymanas Park will add to the already devastating woes being experienced from the coronavirus pandemic.

In a hastily organised press briefing at the grooms’ recreational room at Caymanas Park yesterday, Whyte says already 120 of his members have lost their jobs this week and another 100-240 will also be made redundant before the week is over.

Currently, some 560 grooms operate at the park but the suspension of racing during the coronavirus pandemic has forced owners and trainers to slash staff to offset expenses.

While understanding the current climate, Whyte says a more serious problem could arise if the horses are not taken care of properly during the lockdown.

“If there are no grooms to look after the horses properly, we can find ourselves dealing with another disease probably worse than COVID-19 as the horses need constant attention. If they are not being fed properly, they will become malnourished, and a worse case they can die,” said Whyte.

The sentiment was echoed by senior Jamaica Racing Commission veterinarian Dr St Aubyn Bartlett who said the horses need special care, especially at this time.

“The horses at the stables are not like horses out in a pasture, it is like they are in a jailhouse, they cannot fend for themselves so they have to be looked after, the grass has to be changed and stalls cleaned because they defecate and urinate in the same space and if that is not done, infections can set in,” Dr Bartlett said.

LOST LIVES

Whyte added that he does not want to see a repeat of many years back when horses were left to roam the neighbouring communities which ended up costing some of the animals their lives.

The grooms association president is urging the stakeholders to find a way to get racing back on the park to safeguard the livelihood of the over 2,960 persons who are employed at the facility.

There has been no horse racing at Caymanas Park since promoters Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL) shut down operations indefinitely on March 21 in accordance with the Government’s implementation of the Disaster Risk Management Order to combat the spread of the coronavirus in Jamaica.

President of the United Racehorse Trainers Association (URTA), Ryan Darby, said recently that it is still costing owners and trainers over $20 million per week collectively, to maintain their operations.

Whyte now wants the promoters to ramp up their online betting options to facilitate racing being run behind closed doors with punters having the option to buy bets online.

“We need racing to start running once again if the off-track betting parlour situation did not work out, let us think about getting online betting up and running just like what they are currently doing at Gulfstream Park in Florida,” added Whyte. Racing is still being run before empty stands at a few racetracks in the United States. Gulfstream had four days of action over the holiday weekend, including a 12-race card on Easter Sunday.