BLB signal $.5m loss in tax

THE BATTLE for the English racing signal is having a disastrous effect on the coffers of the Betting Levy Board (BLB). Roop Chan Chadeesingh, chairman of the BLB, said yesterday that because of the uncertainty in the racing industry as to who owns the signal to show live English racing, the Board had lost more than $500,000 in taxes over the last four months. Speaking at the launch of Saturday’s Betting Levy Board Day programme at the Valpark Chinese Restaurant yesterday, Chadeesingh said the Board had written to line Minister Kenneth Valley asking that legislation be amended to make the BLB the sole authority to acquire and operate the racing signals from England. In May, SIS lost the signal of 31 of the 58 tracks in England to the South African outfit, Phumelela. As a result, several of the racing pools in Trinidad and Tobago lost the signal completely, especially at the tracks where big meetings were staged.

The lost of the signal to the big meetings resulted in a drop in the betting at most shops. This was reflected in the monthly record of taxes of the BLB. Chadeesingh, in his address to the racing fraternity, said the time had come for the BLB to do something before crisis hits the industry. He said the Board has also written to SIS agent in the Caribbean, Saffie Joseph, asking him to come to Trinidad to meet with the BLB in an effort to resolve the matter. On another note, Chadeesingh said he has been speaking for the last two years of the BLB establishing VLT centres throughout the country to assist the racing industry. He said the Board, along with the National Lotteries Control Board, made a presentation to Prime Minister Patrick Manning some time ago, showing what the establishment of the centres could do for the racing industry and the Government coffers. The Board chairman said a committee was appointed to look at the idea, but to date nothing has been done.

He said the centres would be patterned along the lines of the success story of Woodbine Entertainment Centre in Toronto. Chadeesingh said the time had come for the racing industry to look for other sources of income to keep it alive. He pointed out that racing was now competing with Lotto, Play Whe, casinos and other forms of entertainment. He said it was necessary for the BLB to have the VLT centres, so there could be better purses and more racing and breeding stock in the country. Chadeesingh revealed that the BLB was putting out $307,000 to sponsor Saturday’s racing at Santa Rosa Park. He said the local racing will run simultaneously with Breeders Cup Day at Lone Star Park in Texas. He is hopeful that in the near future, the BLB will be able to sponsor eight races on the programme with the minimum pursue being $100,000. The feature race on Saturday will be the John Derek Cozier Memorial Turf Classic for three-year-old horses to be run over 1800 metres.

The following is the draw for positions:
1. Yashoda, H Emamalie 2. Uram, B Harding 3. Melanie my Love, J Arneaud 4. Mucho Tempo, N Abrego 5. Massoud, R Rajkumar 6. Silver Bullet, R Jadoo 7. Bandifoot, L Munoz  8. Trini to D Bone, W Galviz 9. Private Affair, G Laban, 10. Flying Eagle, S Rodrigo.