A Call for Help

Belize is a small country located on the Caribbean coast in northern Central America.  It is the only nation in Central America where English is the official language.  Because of its location and natural beauty, Belize is known as a tourist attraction.  The sport of horse racing is alive in Belize, but it is on life support. I see the future of horse racing as very much a global sport.  To that end, it benefits us all, for horse racing in Belize to remain, and improve, and to grow.  A champion for that goal is a Belize native named Roger Marston.  The following is a letter I recieved from Mr. Marston: My name is Roger Marston of Belize City, Belize Central America. I am 27 years old and have loved horses and horse racing for my entire life. I have been around horses since I was a child here in Belize. I have been actively involved in the sport of racing for about 5 years as an exercise rider, trainer, and owner. It has always been my dream to have become a jockey. I was even accepted at the Frank Garza jockey school however that dream was short lived due to the lack of finances. Horse racing here in Belize has not made any steps forward since I was a child. Instead it has just been falling and falling and I feel that it is at its point of exhaustion. In the early 80’s the Queen of England had donated a race track, named The Belize National Stadium, to the Horse Owners of Belize to hold their race meets. There they held a lot of great races and at that time we had horses and horsemen alike coming all the way from Jamaica to participate in the local races, but that was short lived. In 1994 that land was taken away from the Horse Owners, by the then Government of Belize, and was relocated to its present location. After the track was relocated it had also changed its name to Burrel Boom Race Track and now to present day Castleton Race Track. Currently we have about 50-60 active racing horses with about 15-20 being imported thoroughbreds. We have races once a month with our biggest days being January 1st, March 9th, April 13th, May 1st and 24th, Sept. 18th, Oct 12th, Dec 26th. Our track is small and has tight turns, it can almost be classified as “bull pen” or a “bull ring” track. It has deep beach sand which is great and tender on the horses hooves, however it has wooden rails. I must say that so far we have not had any mishaps but would love to prevent that from ever happening. I feel that the reason the sport is dying is the fact that the local Government or the City Council does not support horse racing. We also do not have any pari-mutual betting here. If the racing fans or tourist attend a race meet they either have to bet amongst themselves, or do it with the horse owners or trainers. If we can get pari-mutual betting here it would be an asset for the Country as well as for the race track as money will be generated. We have a grandstand at the track that hold about 75-100 people. The judges and announcer must share that little space along with the spectators, owners, trainers, etc.. There is no camera or video system in place to capture the finishes or to review the races so if there is any disqualification or interference it cannot be reviewed nor the necessary placing of position be made. There is no winners circle where the winners are awarded. There is also no jockey room . The jockeys roam and intermingle with race fans, owners, trainers and even doing betting. In the barn area, the race fans can get up close and personal with the horses, which I feel is very unsafe as there are times when horses tend to act up and people have to be scrambling for safety. I feel that if the race program is more structured like that of the USA the fans will understand more what is going on with specifics horse identification, as well as rules, regulations and protocol. Here the program is not fully detailed so most of the fans are always asking “which horse is that?” and “who is riding?” or “who is the owner?” Even the announcer, steward and judges can become confused. With a stallion registry in place we could keep track of horses as they are bred, and so forth. I would love to make the connection that some day we can have international racing, as well as simlucasting being done of our horse racing meets. I would love to have more horses into the country and even have a breeding farm in place so that we can produce our own horses and at some point be able to take them back to the USA and participate in races as well. I have written all of this above in order to enlist the support of the racing industry within the USA. We are looking for assistance with the following: • Renovate the local race track to make it a bit more safer for horses and riders. • If possible to get a new race track bigger and better like that of the USA • Have a stallion registry • Have all racing horses in Belize registered • Racing Board & Commission • Starting Gate • Breeding Farm• pari-mutual Betting • Simulcasting • Better Race Program • Jockey School• Farrier ,Trainers, Jockey, Steward, Judge, Emergency and horse care education courses • Licensing • Racing Rules & Regulations   For more information or to offer assistance, here is Mr. Marston's Contact Information: Roger Marston 23 Barracat Street Belize City, Belize Central America 00501 tel: (001) 501-623-7833 email: rogeramarston@yahoo.com I know that many of you will feel for the plight of racing in Belize and would like to help, (and if you can help directly that would be wonderful) but are not sure what to do.  Today I ask all of my readers to use the comment page and 'sign in' as a show of support for Roger Marston's cause and for the improvement of horse racing in Belize.  This small act could lead to greater recognition, and in the end, lead to something much bigger.  Thank you.