The Arima Race Club (ARC) has put in place a new committee to frame races.
The stakeholders are now going to have an input into how races are being framed following allegations that races were being framed for certain trainers.
ARC President Hugh Lee King told this column that the club’s secretary, Robin Jaisingh, would continue to frame the races but would now e-mail the provisional programme to the stakeholders who can approve it or recommend changes.
Previously there was a framing committee comprising members of the ARC, which had included former President Justice Wendell Kangaloo and first vice-president Wilfred Acham. But since their resignations, the ARC has decided to make some changes and include some of the stakeholders in the framing process.
Owner/breeder Neil Poon Tip has been brought into the new committee.
Some owners and trainers in the past had been grumbling about the framing of races, which they claim was designed for some of their colleagues.
There were also complaints that the races that were framed were not competitive, resulting in poor payments and the ARC losing money because heavy favourites were dominating the day’s racing.
However, some owners have raised questions over Poon Tip being on the committee since he is very close to trainer John O’Brien, who has been a runaway winner of the Champion Trainer title nearly every year.
O’Brien copped the title for three consecutive years.
