– Despite GHRA’s management being at standstill

PREPARATIONS for the February 26 Guyana Cup Rematch is moving apace,inspite of the fact

that the management of the Guyana Horse Racing Authority (GHRA) is at a standstill.
The one-day event is billed for the Rising Sun Turf Club (RSTC), Arima Park, West Coast Berbice.

Speaking exclusively with Chronicle Sport on Thursday, coordinator of Guyana Cup Rematch, Fazal Habibulla, categorically stated that the race meet will go ahead as planned, adding that the organisers of the Guyana Cup Rematch are less concerned with what takes place at the management level of the authority.

Dubbed the ‘Sport of Kings’, the proper management of the sport is at a standstill, since executive members have not met to discuss GHRA’s business for almost a year, after its president,Vickram Ouditt,demitted office in February last year following the expiration of his term.

Recent-acting secretary of the GHRA, Chattergoon Ramnauth,is of the opinion that the work of the authority has also been put on hold due to the lack of a critical piece of legislation that would have legitimise its operations.

He, however, maintained that the implementation of the legislation will be the only way out of the dilemma the authority finds itself in.

Once put into law, the Guyana Horse Racing Authority Act will allow the sport to run more effectively and help to deal with violators.The proposed law includes: increasing the membership of the Racing Authority from nine to 15; including the Bush Lot United Turf Club as a member of the GHRA and implementing a two-year term for members of the Authority.It will also give the GHRA the power to schedule race dates for each club in the event that a club is unable to run off a race meeting.

But the realisation of that act seems some distance away, since the status of the document remains unknown.
Meanwhile, organisers are yet to release a provisional programme, but according to Habibulla,the feature race will be for animals classified B and lower for a whopping $1.2M,over 1800 metres.