Circus: More questions than answers for Burke

Former Barbados Turf Club director and chief racecourse chair Duane Burke is questioning the logic of choosing the Garrison Savannah to be the  new site of the controversial Suarez Brothers’ Circus.

The facility was shut down by authorities after one performance at its former location in the Belle, St Michael last week, due to its proximity to the nation’s largest underground aquifer. After plans emerged that the historic horse racing venue was being considered as the new location, Burke was one of the more vocal critics of the plan.

With the venue now being confirmed, Burke remains opposed to the decision and has taken issue with how the relocation has been handled.

He said: “Everything that I’m telling you is from a binocular view because the communication coming from the turf club or from the government has been very minimal. I’m not understanding why because at this point in time you should be engaging all your stakeholders and basically anyone in the industry, not just, owners and trainers.”

Burke says from a purely economic standpoint, with the Barbados Turf Club already confirming the cancellation of the September 5 raceday and with heavy rain on Monday possibly affecting the staging of an extremely packed day of racing on Saturday, the fallout from the move to the Garrison is likely to be extensive. 

By his estimate, racehorse owners alone contribute $750 000 to the economy each month just by maintaining horses.

Burke added: “Also, the turf club hires, to my understanding, 150 additional people on race days. This would include people at the starting stalls, people in the betting booths and whatnot. Then you have vets, the feed and hay suppliers; all these people will be directly economically impacted.

“What also has not been divulged or indicated is, if there are damages to say the rugby pitch, or if there is damage to the turf, or if the repairs take on significant expense, a lot of people don’t really take this into consideration.

“What if the track is damaged and you can’t race when the circus leaves? What if the rugby field cannot be put back into use right away?”

Burke is also questioning whether it is prudent to interrupt existing rugby and football at the Savannah to support an economic entity that will only be here for a short period.

“Meanwhile, the turf club contributes to the economy of Barbados year-round, but it was deemed fit to move them,” he said.

“How did this all transpire in the first instance? Does that mean that the next time the circus wants to come to Barbados, that horse racing and rugby has to be interrupted again to facilitate the circus? This is not just a horse racing or rugby association issue.

“This is an entire sports in Barbados issue because of the ease with which the government has done this to a sporting organisation. Every sporting organisation should be viewing this [through] the lens that this could happen to them. They need to understand that this is a real possibility.”
(KH)