Between the grievances of the Mauritius Turf Club Sports and Leisure and protecting the government’s position on the organization of races, the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation did not have much choice. It had to alienate a part of the racing public.
On Saturday July 3rd, in front of the refusal of the Minister of Finance to meet the members of the MTC to discuss the Finance Bill, the governing body of horse racing in Mauritius wanted to show its disagreement and alerted the public opinion. Thus, several signs were placed on the track and in the MTC enclosure for the 12th day of racing. Signs that evoked the prerogatives of the MTC that will be removed with the creation of a Horse Racing Division as stipulated in the Finance Bill.
However, these signs such as: 209 years of history, 3500 jobs in danger, Contribution of Rs 800M to the State and Nu lekours, nou patrimoine, did not please the management of the MBC which did not want to broadcast these images.
The elements of the police have certainly removed those which were on the track because the Champ de Mars, which is managed by the MTC belongs to the municipality of Port -Louis, but not in the paddocks.
The turfists could not follow the horses in the paddocks, no picture of the prize-giving either, nor the analysis of each race by the journalists in the paddocks.
The MBC only broadcast the images of the races.
On its side, according to our information, the MTC does not exclude other actions in the days to come against the implementation of this Horse Racing Division. The State for its part does not intend to be intimidated.
