Horses to follow 2025
Compared to pre-COVID performance and the pandemic years, horseracing has made positive strides in 2024.In particular, international attention was grabbed by the excellentMouttet Mile promotion. Jamaica was able to once again …
Land reform must follow Hurricane Melissa
In 1838, slavery was abolished in the British West Indies. It was the end of an over 300-year policy, practice, and business of enslaving Africans to work on the sugar plantations on …
Claims Against The Claiming System
An advertorial in the Track and Pools and a report in the Jamaica Observer (September 28, 29 and October 1) confirms Howard Hamilton is at it again. He has been whining …
Betting Is Not The Same As Gambling
As gambling options seem never-ending, maybe it’s time for a seminar on the differences between gambling and betting. There’s a reason that Government’s statutory body regulating these activities is named The …
Horses To Follow 2024
Unfortunately, serious horse racing fans were as frustrated at the close of 2023 as they were at its start. In Public Opinion’s first issue of 2023, I wrote: “…production of racing …
Opposition To Everything
So, finally, after decades of lobbying, a Government has recognized the counter-productive nature of GCT imposed on the importation of race horses. So, naturally, the Opposition began intense politicking because everyone …
Computers Are Taking Over
I remember when the word “computer” conjured up as many magical images as Narnia or Middle Earth subsequently. In the early days, my pardy and I saw an advertisement of a …
Positive Developments
Two recent developments in horseracing and betting have the potential to produce positive results. The first is the introduction, at the racetrack, of what’s being marketed as ‘fixed odds betting”. It’s …
He Don’t Like Favourites
So my alter ego found himself in the Bernard Lodge area recently visiting the location of a longstanding legal dispute. There I met a Stud Farm Manager named Clifton McLeish who …
Pay Attention To The Track
The racing surface at Caymanas Park is in urgent need of attention. I don’t have to be at exercise gallops or touring stables every day (as was my routine years ago) …
Government Neglect Driving Low Breeding Output
So, Thoroughbred Owners & Breeders Association of Jamaica (TOBA) President Howard Hamilton has been quoted by the Observer as saying the breeding industry is in a state of panic. Ya don’t …