Like it or not Jamaica, live horse racing on a Sunday is here. Today, November 29, 2009 the first ever Sunday race meet was held at Caymanas Park with an eight – race programme scheduled to go off at 1:10pm.

Now, there has been a lot of controversy leading up to today’s historical event. The Church won a small victory in that they were able to get the Cabinet to disallow Caymanas Track Limited (CTL) Off –Track betting parlors from opening for business on a Sunday. Although these parlors account for 70 percent of CTL take on local racing I say a small victory because I’m sure with time and given the technology at hand today other ways will be found to allow betting to take place island wide.

The director of CTL, Chris Armond, is hoping that Jamaicans will see Sundays at Caymanas Park as a family fun day. I’m not sure what kind of entertainment is being offered for the children, but in my opinion gambling is no lesson any good parent wants to teach their child on any day of the week.

At the end of the day, those who want to gamble will do so whether it is local or overseas horse racing. For that mater whether its horse racing or a gaming lounge. I just think that as a nation we need to make up our minds. Do we want to allow gambling or not. The Government closing the Off-Track Betting parlors on a Sunday but allowing gaming lounges to open is the heights of hypocrisy. You may bet your money here but not there. Or is it, I will allow one man to ‘eat food’ (as we say in Jamaica for making money) while I restrict another. Somehow the equation is very unbalanced.

The economy is in a bind, Christmas is coming and everyone is looking for a way to make a fast dollars. All these many access to gambling, cash pot, pick three, lucky five, lotto, super lotto, horse racing, gaming lounges and I’m sure I have missed a few, is far too much. It’s like placing candy in front of a child then saying, don’t eat. I must confess I don’t have the answer, but for starters I definitely believe that the frequencies of most of the games need to be cut back. They are far too accessible and much too frequent. I would sure hate to see Jamaicans self destruct because of gambling. Our nation is already in enough problems to create more for ourselves.

Nuff Love