KINGSTON, Jamaica – At a meeting held on Tuesday of last week involving stakeholders of horse racing and the promoting company Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), the latter offered a purse increase of $27 million.
This amount was flatly rejected by the stakeholders who claimed that figure used by SVREL to calculate the increase of $5.3 billion was not substantiated, and that the correct figure was instead $6.2 billion. In addition, the stakeholders pointed out that a substantial increase, much more than the $27 million offered was required to defray the ever-increasing costs of putting a horse on the track to race.
As a result of this stalemate, the stakeholders took the decision not to nominate their horses for the race meets on Saturday, July 15, and Sunday, July 16, 2023. Both race meets were therefore cancelled. There is still uncertainty as to when racing will resume.
Also present at the Tuesday meeting was Vitus Evans, executive director of the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC), who in his presentation stated that SVREL had paid taxes on $6.2 billion, and until proof was provided and substantiated by the Commission, that was the official amount.
Now, SVREL in a news release issued last weekend is advising that correspondence from the BGLC has confirmed that after doing its various checks the figure is $5.3 billion.
Below is the full text of the news release from SVREL.
