Cliff Williams

It is indeed gratifying to see that in recent weeks there has been stricter adherence to the Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC) racing rules in so far as it relates to the post parade and the more timely saddling exercise. However, it is indeed a bit of an embarrassment that, in order to ensure that the riders adhere to the rules, a couple of bright red cones had to be deployed to indicate the route the parade must take.

Over a long time, it seems that a few of the trainers got into the habitual act of late saddling deliberately, in a little bit of gamesmanship, so that their horses carry the weight of the jockey for less time before the start of the race.

The rule de-mands that all things must be equal except per-mission of the stewards is sought and granted for any departure from the stipulations.

I believe this column can take some credit for the improvement, having noted the breakdown and mentioned it on three separate occasions on this page.

Using the tongue-tie

For what it's worth, I am returning to what I consider to be a few serious oversights as it relates to the flow of information to the punters. At this point, I am still puzzled as to why,in the face of incontrovertible evidence, that the tongue-tie can influence performance, negatively or positively. This piece of equipment, taken off the list of declarable items just under a year ago, has not been returned.

It is about time the JRC realise the error and put things right as there are now numerous examples, both here and abroad, of the effective use of this equipment.

Recently, there have been too many occasions where at declaration time, trainers have had problems of the intended jockey being ineligible for one reason or another. What is amazing is that there is no set time for the trainer to make a second declaration.

I wish to submit that this state of affairs is untenable and a stipulation should be in force to make the declaration of a rider mandatory before post time of the first event.

There have been two cases recently where there were late declarations in which former champion jockeys were surprisingly engaged and ended up winning on both occasions.

Judging by the odds of these two winners, it was clear to me that too many punters were left without a chance of backing these horses with confidence in their bets without prior knowledge of the identity of the riders.

Against the background of the Pick-9 and the Super-6 being the most popular wagers, it would seem to me that every possible piece of information must be made available and this must surely dictate the timeline when a declaration must be completed in all respects.

Whenever a horse changes stable through a claim, the date is indicated in the official form book, but when it is a private sale or lease arrangement there is no indication as to the date of the transfer.

This is an unsatis-factory state of affairs and this information should be available routinely.

Speaking of the form book, there have been a few races confined to apprentice riders, where no whips or spurs are used and no indication of this is noted in the future form lines of the participating horses.

This business of horses apparently being trainedexclusively in an equine swimming pool is not tolerated at many racetracks in the United States.

Punter confidence

In fact, part of the eligibility clause at one racetrack is that a horse coming from an extended, specific identified layoff time away from competitive racing must have a racecourse exercise over a stipulated minimum distance. This has to be done in a certain time and close enough to the intended raceday before a declaration is accepted.

Obviously, in these jurisdictions there is a seemingly obsessive recognition that everything must be done to ensure that the punters have a high degree of confidence in what has to be considered a jealously-guarded integrity of the racing product.

I have no reason to question the competence or probity of our local administrators, but at times, I have to wonder why there is not a similar mindset at work in the regulation and promotion of our version of the Sport of Kings.

Punter confidence in the integrity and quality of the racing product is what drives betting and no effort should be spared to ensure that this remains at a very high level continuously.