Jamaica's horse racing enthusiasts can rejoice as the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) and Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL) have successfully resolved their impasse. This means that race meets will return to full race cards, as opposed to the short six-race programme that was run on Saturday.

That six-race card marked the return of live racing after a one-week break, when horsemen opted not to nominate as a show of their discontent to a $27 million purse increase offer put forward by SVREL.

However, following a productive meeting and constant dialogue, both parties have reached a mutual agreement, paving the way for the resumption of full race cards, as TOBA encouraged its members to support nominations for the meet scheduled on Saturday, July 29, starting on Tuesday, July 25. This will be followed by an action-packed first week of August, featuring three race days in seven days, including the much-anticipated Jamaica Oaks and Jamaica Derby.

In a statement released on Sunday, July 23, TOBA said that having met with SVREL on Monday, July 17, following the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission's (BGLC) prior confirmation of the promoting company's 2022 sales figures of $5.32 billion on local racing, TOBA has agreed to continue working with SVREL and the Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC) to implement major initiatives towards negating the annual wrangling over prize monies.

In its statement, TOBA said it hoped that these initiatives, if successfully negotiated and implemented, including returning monies derived from the local-racing industry, will lead to a substantial and sustainable purse- money environment, as exists in other international racing jurisdictions, historically bringing Jamaica in line with North America, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, jurisdictions which all access and thrive on purses supplemented by other consistent income streams.

This positive development will not only attract horse owners but also boost the excitement and engagement of racing enthusiasts across the country.

Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited today signed a historic agreement establishing themselves, along with Trinidad’s Arima Racetrack, as the first two Caribbean Track and Pool Operators to participate in The Caribbean Pool. 

The Caribbean Pool is a Caribbean inter-island commingling platform that allows for Caribbean Tote operators to bet into each other, thereby creating bigger pools, bigger profits for its member partners, and most importantly, bigger payouts to its punters. 

The Pool will also facilitate greater cooperation and participation between the Caribbean Pool Operators with the aim of growing local racing both regionally and internationally.

 Chairman of SVL Gary Peart outlined what this agreement means for the company. 

“As we have been able to do for many of our other SVL brands, our goal for SVREL in 2022 is to continue our revenue growth through local, regional and international expansion. The Caribbean Pool aligns perfectly with our vision for the company and as such we are happy to participate as lead partner,” he said. 

With the two largest regional racetracks onboard and an expectation that the Barbados Turf Club will sign on as early as January 2022 and the Royal St Lucia Turf Club joining in as soon as they resume racing in 2022, the Caribbean Pool is set to delight Caribbean racing fans. 

Founder of The Caribbean Pool Kimani Robinson of the Kisero Group also reacted to the agreement.

 “Our vision was to create a new and exciting regional simulcast portal that would generate greater returns for the Caribbean track and pool operators as well as their punters,” Robinson added. 

Robinson, who noted that he first discussed the idea with SVL’s Chairman Peart where both men hammered out the constructs of the legal and technical structure required to make the platform a reality, added that regional merging is the future of horse racing in the Caribbean. 

“Regional commingling is the future of Caribbean horse racing. A regionally commingled platform will create greater relevance and awareness for the sport which means greater economic benefits for all. There is no reason why the Caribbean Pool shouldn’t replicate for horse racing what West Indies Cricket did for regional cricket,” he said. 

In terms of awareness, The Caribbean Pool has formed an alliance with the perfect regional media partners, the Caribbean's Home of Champions, SportsMax, who have agreed to become the home of all things Caribbean Pool and Caribbean Horse Racing.  

SportsMax CEO Nicolas Matthews confirmed that “racing fans will be in for a treat as SportsMax beefs up its Caribbean horse racing coverage via the Caribbean Pool. Given our regional strength, especially in the participating Caribbean Pool countries being contemplated and our ambition of providing our audiences with more of what they want, the Caribbean Pool is a perfect fit for us”. 

Along with coverage on their linear channels SportsMax and SportsMax2, SportsMax will include a dedicated channel within the SportsMax App called "SportsMax Racing" that will provide most of the Caribbean Pool’s racing content. 

“Our team has worked side by side with the Kisero Group for months in making the Caribbean Pool a reality,” commented SVREL CEO Lorna Gooden. 

“We are aggressively on a growth path for 2022 and though we have made significant headway in simulcasting our content internationally, we believe that regional growth for us will be faster and more responsive due to existing familiarity,” Gooden added, before expanding further on what the agreement demonstrates. 

“This agreement is a further demonstration of the commitment and drive of the Board and management at Caymanas Park to expand the product offering available to our punters, to promote and establish Caymanas Park as the horseracing mecca of the Caribbean,” she said. 

The Caribbean Pool is set to start in short order and is hoping to get all clearances and approvals granted for a soft launch over the Christmas holidays.