THE Jumbo Jet Thoroughbred Racing Committee (JJTRC) has released their provisional programmes for the Triple Crown Series, with the second leg set for March 24, the same day with the Kennard’s Memorial Turf Club (KMTC) traditional Phagwah race meet.

Both JJTRC boss, Nasrudeen Mohamed Jr. and KMTC head, Cecil Kennard, agreed that there will be no changes to their respective dates, which will now leave not only the sport but turfites, jockeys, sponsors and stable owners is total confusion.

Kennard had told Chronicle Sport last week that his club has no problems with the first and third legs of the Triple Crown but does have a problem with the second date because it’s the same day with the Phagwah race meet which is over four decades old.
This new development could have been avoided if there was a proper legislation to govern the sport.

Dubbed the ‘Sport of Kings’, horse racing, since its resuscitation locally, has been operating under a legal document that was registered under the Miscellaneous Deeds Act.
However, the draft, Guyana Horse Racing Authority Act, which will allow the sport to run more effectively, to deal with violators, and to give the GHRA the power to schedule race dates among other regulations, was championed by Kennard in 2015 but to date that critical piece of legislation is yet to be implemented.

Nothing much was done by the previous administration with regard to the implementation of the legislation, and the present Government cannot escape some criticism since a copy of a horse-racing legislation has been lodged with the government since late 2015.
Meanwhile, the provisional programme for the Triple Crown series has carded nine races for each race meeting, with $1M set for the winning stable in each feature event.