Cliff Williams
WHILE I am not going to say that I am exactly bombarded with complaints, however, it is with increasing frequency that certain issues irking the punters are being brought to my attention.
At first blush, these may appear to be no more than minor nuisances but to a bettor these are critical factors that may be having a negative impact on the individual's full enjoyment of the sport. Now consider the following irritants as indicated by the numerous punters who have approached me to complain.
It was pointed out again to me last Saturday by one of the more discerning punters that he has not witnessed an orderly post parade for a very long time. Nowadays, the saddling exercise is never completed in a manner so that all starters are in the parade ring at the same time.
Certain of the trainers seemingly just basically ignore the saddling deadline and are nearly always late when having just one entry, never mind when they have more than one.
Ever so often permission is granted for horses to be taken to the starting gate early for reasons of unsound temperament, but the idea of making announcements to this effect has been abandoned long ago. I remember clearly, a time when there was an orderly parade in front of the stands and the horses went at least to the 100-metre or half a furlong marker so that those interested could get a good look at a horse's condition and gait.
UNTIDY PARADE
The fact of the matter is that the jockeys have been allowed to do pretty much as they please without the intervention of the officials and now this untidy parade has become common practice.
The frequency with which stewards inquiries are now held has reached unbelievably ridiculous proportions with a disproportionate amount of time spent looking at incidents with likely outcomes that will have no bearing on the dividends to be declared. As I understand it, the rationale is that with purses being paid to first six to finish in a race this is now deemed to be necessary.
Clearly this is ludicrous as the most important aspect of any raceday is to maximise betting turnover and this should not be hampered by unnecessary official action.
What ought to happen is that inquiries not affecting the placings as it relates to the declaring of dividends should be resolved at a more convenient time.
Generally, I think when a steward inquiry is declared there is an obligation on the part of the officials to make specific identification of the horses involved as is the practice in North America.
This is in preference to the local stewards' overcautious announcement that they are looking into an incident at a particular point on the track, which is really to say nothing when one thinks about it.
TOTALISATOR SYSTEM
It was over a decade and a half ago that the computerised totalisator system became a reality and we are yet to see it fully utilised in terms of the speed with which information is processed.
In North America we see dividends being posted even before the jockeys dismount once there is no inquiry, but I don't imagine we are likely to see any such thing at Caymanas anytime soon.
As far as the Caymanas tote is concerned, I am at a loss to determine how the software was configured to give the place betting display equal or it would seem more time than the win.
This anomaly should be redressed irrespective of the cost as I am assured it is a major irritant to the bettors in the OTB stations who don't have the benefit of the constant display of odds available at the racetrack.
This list of less than professional practices leading to the above complaints is by no means exhausted, but in the interest of space it will have to suffice for now.
However, I will be dealing with others going forward as there is no good reason that I can think of why what is done locally cannot resemble common professional practice elsewhere in the modern world.
