With Mauritian horseracing in turmoil and facing a battle for survival, a batch of 16 South African horses arrived safely on the island earlier this week, bringing the total imported to a paltry 36 as opposed to averages of past years of up to 140.
These are jittery times for the Indian Ocean Island’s horseracing, which relies solely on South Africa as a feeder for its racehorse population.
Imports are down 75% and this is one we cannot blame on AHS and export protocols!
Horseracing on the island celebrated 200 years of existence in 2012, but was delivered a double body blow late in 2014.
This came in the form of a Commission Of Enquiry set up by the Government and manned by three regulators from the British Horseracing Authority. No report has yet been released, but word is that it will be damning.
The real uncertainty though stems from a three-pronged investigation launched into tax matters of owners and trainers by the Mauritius Revenue Authority.
It focussed on trainers under declaring on subsidised stakes-linked keep and demands believed to total close on R30 million have been issued. Any appeal would require the complainant to put down a 30% deposit of the amount demanded, so many trainers are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Champ de Mars
The second arm of the investigation centred on big owners, who could afford to own racehorses but apparently declared nominal income. Some ucomfortable questions were asked.
The third part of the enquiry relates to the accurately declared values of SA imports. These are subject to vat.
The Mauritius Turf Club announced a nearly 20 million rupees loss in its anniversary year and it is believed that matters will continue to deteriorate unless proactive corrective measures are taken. There are other competing gambling options like lottery and football pools.
Insiders spoken to suggested that the industry could face total closure with the immediate loss of some one thousand five hundred direct jobs, and many more indirect ones.
The new season is expected to commence late in March, but no fixtures have been published.
The list of latest arrivals
| HORSES | STABLE | AGE | OUTPUT | WIN / S | PLACE/S |
| THE CAPTAIN | J. M. Henry | 3 | 6 | 2 | 1 |
| ARROWHEAD | R. Maingard | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| BRAVE LEADER | R. Gujadhur | 4 | 10 | 2 | 4 |
| CHERISH THE CHARM | G. Rousset | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| COUNTS ROCKET | R. Maingard | 4 | 16 | 2 | 6 |
| GREYS INN CONTROL | C. Ramdin | 5 | Twenty three | 4 | 12 |
| HEADSTRONG HARRY | Gujadhur | 4 | 13 | 2 | 8 |
| HUNTING HORN | G. Rousset | 4 | 17 | 3 | 6 |
| IT’S MY PARTY | R. Gujadhur | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| O’CHEE PAN | Gujadhur | 4 | 14 | 1 | 7 |
| REIM | Gujadhur | 4 | 15 | 4 | 2 |
| ROVENTAS | R. Maingard | 4 | 14 | 0 | 6 |
| SCORECARD | R. Gujadhur | 3 | 8 | 1 | 3 |
| SIDDHARTH | R. Gujadhur | 4 | 14 | 1 | 5 |
| SILVER BLUFF | Gujadhur | 5 | Twenty three | 6 | 7 |
| THE REAL HERO | G. Rousset | 3 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
