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THERE
are reports emanating from the Philippine Racing
Commission (Philracom) that the proposal regarding the
stopping of the racing activities of all imported horses
to four-year-olds has been shelved for a year.
We have
discussed the issue here last week regarding the
reported proposal to stop the racing life of all
imported horses to just four years old so they can be
sent to the breeding shed afterward. This issue faced a
big howl of protest from the various sectors of the
industry.
Even
those major breeders in the land have protested because
these imported horses are greatly contributing not only
to local breeding but also in giving incentives to those
imported horseowners to recoup some of their
investments.
The
authorities reasoned out that the stopping of those
imported horses’ racing life to four is not their own
order but that of an original order from the Department
of Agriculture, which has the sole power in the
importation of those horses.
But let
the authorities be reminded that nobody wanted to get in
the importation bandwagon then simply because nobody in
his good state of mind will venture into such business
of importation if his big investment will not be given
enough security or even incentive.
Importing horses is no small investment even for those
who would buy just one or two horses. The landed cost of
one such horse (from the price of a horse that had been
won in the bidding, to its freight, taxes, insurance,
quarantine, transport and many others) is already a
fortune. One horse’s landed cost could run from P350,000
to P600,000 or more depending on the cost of the horse.
A high-pedigreed one costs higher because there are many
horsemen who bid for them.
When the
population of the local horses dwindled after the
horseracing industry was hit by the dreaded equine
infectious anemia (EIA), which is equivalent to the
deadly HIV virus in humans, it was the Philracom itself
which eventually overruled the said DA ruling.
Through
its own vast power over the entire racing industry, the
Philracom ordered that the racing life of all imported
horses shall be extended up to seven years old. After
reaching that age, the male horse could be sent to the
farm to stand at stud while the mare shall be retired to
the breeding shed.
That was
the only thing needed by the prospective investors in
the industry as they poured on their money. Although the
risk in investing on horses is very high (a horse may
die while in transport or break down during workout or
in the races, or they might even contract some dreaded
horse diseases) those brave investors nevertheless took
the gamble and went on to import horses from Australia,
New Zealand and even from the United States.
Because
of the different breeding season here (Northern
Hemisphere) and in Australia and New Zealand (Southern
Hemisphere) where majority of the horses were purchased,
most of the horses start their racing career here at the
registered age of four. This means that an owner of an
imported horse have only three years to run his horse so
he can recoup some of his investment.
Only a
few were so lucky to recoup their investment or even
earn some more while many have been unlucky and went on
to the next step which is trying their luck in breeding.
Some of those who went into breeding, either directly
(the horse they purchased was already in-foal) or later
on after their horses retired, became lucky and are now
reaping the seeds of their investments (as the progenies
of their broodmares are now winning as newcomers in the
races).
The
relatively great success of importation—in the uplift of
the local breeding stock and in the continued populating
of our local horses to name a few—had apparently touched
on the interest of some few horsebreeders who saw it as
a bane for their own business.
Instead
of joining the bandwagon, most of them bought a
relatively few imported stallions and broodmares and
stopped altogether for no apparent reason. Yes, they
continued breeding horses but their produce are so small
compared to the growing need of the market. As well as
we know it, when the produce is small, the price of the
commodities can go spiral or astronomical which is the
one happening here.
Why
don’t these local breeders lower their prices? It can’t
be that simple because their overhead expenses are high
and that their produce is of high-quality breed, so they
say.
This is
the reason why several new investors in horseracing are
turning into importing horses. One can get good-bred
horses at low prices from Australia, New Zealand and the
United States where the horses are abundant.
But why
in heaven’s name is the Philracom stepping into this
issue without consulting the different sectors of the
industry? A group of small horsebreeders that try to
sell horses at steep prices to the new investors is not
the whole industry per se. The authorities must ask each
and every horseowner in town whether the importation of
horses had affected their investments or not.
The
authorities will be surprised to hear from them that
what this industry need is not “too many regulations”
but new investors! |
