8/14/2019 The Long Term Problem of the Racing Industry

1/7

The Long Term Problem Of The Racing Industry

Over the years several arguments have been posed to explain the decline in racing andhow to revive the industry. Some called for the removal of the track from its current

location, others have called for the privatization of Caymanas Park Limited.

However as can be seen from the tables below, the problem facing the racing industry has

nothing to do with the race program of Caymanas Track Limited.

Number of

Races andStarters

Calendar

Year

Race

Days

Races Starters Average

per

Average

per

Day Race1977 83 846 8752 105.4 10.3

1978 83 827 9260 111.5 11.2

1979 91 886 9341 103.6 10.5

1980 89 835 9122 102.4 10.9

1987 81 776 8975 110.8 11.6

1988 70 641 6779 96.8 10.6

1989 87 809 8271 95.1 10.2

1990 65 643 6330 97.4 9.8

1997 89 925 8860 101.9 9.61998 83 876 8460 99.5 9.6

1999 90 942 9744 108.2 10.3

2000 93 998 10051 108.1 10.1

2007 80 841 7519 93.98 8.9

2008 82 865 8166 99.58 9.4

Source: The Jamaica Racing Commission

As can be seen there is no significant difference in the offering of Caymanas Track

Limited in the late 1970s as compared with the offering in recent years.

Equally it could not be said, that the decline in the fortunes of racing has any directrelationship with the distribution of purse money. As can be seen from the table and the

graph below, owners and breeders have been doing relatively well given the state of the

industry.

1

8/14/2019 The Long Term Problem of the Racing Industry

2/7

Calendar

Year

Total Purse InUs$

Purse PaidOut ToOwners In US$

Amount PaidTo Breeders InUS $

1977 2907863 2861313 46549.45

1978 2133610 2066947 66688.65

1979 2282832 2212220 70611.93

1980 2783781 2653228 130553.4

1987 1643634 1524491 119143

1988 1368816 1332657 36159.17

1989 1993309 1838697 154611.9

1990 1852978 1709249 143729.6

1997 4965356 4520770 444586

1998 5509692 5017387 492305.61999 5718489 5172433 546056.1

2000 5747346 5236411 510935.5

2007 5402580 4919109 483470.2

2008 5873082 5347988 525094.8Source:-The Jamaica Racing Commission

% Change in Purses Paid out, year

1977=100

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1 3 5 7 9 11 13

Period,1977- to-2008

PercentageChange

% Change in

Total

Purse1977=100

% Change in

Puse Paid To

Owners

1977=100

% Change inAmount Paid

To Breeders

1977=100

2

8/14/2019 The Long Term Problem of the Racing Industry

3/7

If the problem is not caused by a failure to pay out a competitive purse and it did not

come about as a result of radical changes in the offering of Caymanas Track Ltd. how

then the decline in the fortunes of racing come about? There are two aspects to thisproblem (1) Over the years there has been a reduction in both the number of betting

shops in operation coupled with a decline in the number of betting companies; secondly

there has been a decline in total betting sales. See table below:-

Calendar

YearPromoters Total inUS$

BookMakersTotal inUS $

TotalBetting inUS $

1977 28252.75 47417.58 75670.33

1978 19090.78 43543.97 62634.75

1979 14255.68 36857.39 51113.07

1980 13113.48 36074.72 49188.2

1987 11198.55 25257.53 36456.08

1988 8870.417 22349.91 31220.33

1989 13898.96 34851.99 48750.95

1990 12671.27 22073.62 34744.89

1997 37267.5 22719.35 59986.85

1998 35532.47 23180.14 58712.61

1999 40651.68 29796.28 70447.96

2000 41400.35 31953.2 73353.55

2007 34925.92 22136.13 5715.392

2008 33823.11 21843.92 55667.03Source:-The Jamaica Racing Commission

The table and graph below express the above in percentage terms thus enabling a closer

examination in the change in betting sales between 1977 and 2008.

3

8/14/2019 The Long Term Problem of the Racing Industry

4/7

Calendar

Year

%

Change

in Total

Betting

1977=100

% change

in

Promoters

Total

1977=100

% Change

in

Bookmakers

Total

1977=100

1977 100 100 100

1978 82.7732 67.57141 91.83086

1979 67.54704 50.45768 77.72937

1980 65.00329 46.4149 76.07878

1987 48.17751 39.63702 53.26617

1988 41.25835 31.39665 47.13422

1989 64.42545 49.19507 73.500151990 45.91613 44.84969 46.55155

1997 79.27394 131.9075 47.91334

1998 77.59 125.7664 48.88511

1999 93.09852 143.8858 62.83803

2000 96.93833 146.5357 67.38683

2007 7.553016 123.6196 46.68338

2008 73.5652 119.7162 46.06714Source: The Jamaica Racing Commission

% in Total Sales, 1977=100

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

1 3 5 7 9 11 13

periods, 1977-2008

%c

hangeover1977sales % Chandge in

Total Betting

1977=100

% change in

Promoters

Total 1977=100

% Change in

Bookmakers

Total 1977=100

4

8/14/2019 The Long Term Problem of the Racing Industry

5/7

What can be seen from the tables and graph above is that not only is there a question of

declining total sales , but from the mid 1980s private bookmakers have been reducing

their participation in the sales of bets on local races. While there has been a consistentincrease in the promoters share in total betting sales its impact remains less than it would

have been if the private bookmakers were operating at their pri-1980s level.

Coupled with the above, the promoter has been called on to match changes in betting

sales to that of the payment of purses. See table and graph below:-

Calendar

Year

%changein TotalBettingYear toYear

%changein TotalPurse

Year toYear

1977 !00 100

1978 82.7732 73.37382

1979 81.60497 106.99391980 96.2341 121.9442

1987 74.1155 59.04322

1988 85.63819 83.27987

1989 156.1513 145.6228

1990 71.27017 92.95993

1997 172.6494 267.9663

1998 97.8758 110.9627

1999 119.9878 103.7896

2000 104.1245 100.50462007 7.791569 94.00129

2008 973.9844 108.7089

5

8/14/2019 The Long Term Problem of the Racing Industry

6/7

% Change in Total Purse and Total Betting

Year to Year

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1 3 5 7 9 11 13

Period 1977 to 2008

%C

hange

% change in Total

Betting Year to

Year

% change in Total

Purse Year to Year

Marginal Change in Totat Betting & Marginal

Change in Total Purse 1977 to 2008

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Marginal Change in

Total Betting

Marginal Change in

Total Purse

6

8/14/2019 The Long Term Problem of the Racing Industry

7/7

The Implications For The Racing Industry

1. The declining sale coupled with the declining participation of the private sector inthe sales of bets on local racing in addition to the increasing responsibilities of the

promoting company means greater difficulty in the funding of recurrent activities

and little or no attention to developmental activities.2. Greater demands on the state to give various types of incentives and or grants.

3. Continued difficulty in funding the activities of the Jamaica Racing Commission

whose revenue is in theory linked to betting sales.4. The potential risk of accelerated decapitalization of the industry in the short to

medium term as a result of the increasing attractiveness and lower operating of

other forms of gambling.

5. The risk of trainers, grooms, jockeys and etc becoming de facto state employees.

7