- Wednesday 04, February-2004

SPORTS MINISTER Reginald Farley would like to see the Barbados Turf Club (BTC) step up its training of jockeys and other people involved in the horse-racing industry.

Delivering the feature address at the Garrison Turf Awards at Sherbourne Conference Centre on Friday night, the minister said there was clearly a demand for Barbadian talent and expertise in horse-racing in Canada and to a lesser extent south-east United States.

He said there were about 60 Barbadians working in the racing industry in Canada, 15 jockeys, 34 grooms, ten exercise riders, and at least one trainer.

He called on the BTC to expand the training opportunities for in particular jockeys to satisfy not only the demand for these services from overseas but also at home.

When queried on this matter afterwards, Farley disclosed that Government would look favourably at any proposals from the club aimed at expanding the necessary training for jockeys and other skilled workers in the industry for whom there was a demand.

He cited what had obtained in the nursing and teaching professions as an analogy, where Government had facilitated the recruitment of nurses and teachers for overseas job attachments.

Farley said horse-racing was no different, because the export of jockeys and other skilled workers to service the racing industry in overseas countries would redound to the benefit of the country eventually.

The minister suggested that with respect to this training, the BTC could approach TECVEC (Technical Vocational Education Council) – a council established by Government to assist training programmes in the private sector – for financial assistance.

In his address, Farley said the Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup was the biggest single annual sporting event in the Caribbean.

He said since its introduction in 1982, the Gold Cup had energised the racing industry and also put Barbados on the international racing map.

He said the exploits of Sir Michael Stoute as a trainer in England and Patrick Husbands as a jockey in Canada had brought fame and glory to Barbados.

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