‘Mauritius Turf Club Will Survive’ – President
The troubles plaguing the Mauritius race will see the 211-year-old Mauritius Turf Club not involved in organizing races for the first time this year.
With the new season due to start on Saturday 18th March it was recently reported that by the end of February the MTCSL had not received the cost sharing agreement announced by People’s Turf Plc Ltd (PTP) for the 2023 season.
A later request by the PTP for the MTCSL to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that would effectively prevent the MTCSL from communicating about the cost-sharing agreement, among other things, was denied.
The MTCSL board decided not to respond positively to the non-disclosure agreement, in what has been termed a “PTP-imposed gag”.
Local media platform Lawn News reported last week that the 2023 racing season in Mauritius will now take place without MTC Sports and Leisure Limited (MTCSL).
It is reported that the Mauritius Turf Club (MTC) members unanimously decided at their Extraordinary General Assembly on Friday 3 March to step down and not organize horse racing this season.
MTC President Gavin Glover said:
“Waking up this morning I was aware of the hardship that will befall all Mauritian turf athletes today and I do not forget all the stakeholders who have been with the Turf Club in recent years. I stand before you because the decision we had to make today is dramatic. The consequences will obviously matter to everyone, but I ended my speech today by saying that 2023 is a nightmare and that we hope that when we wake up in 2024 it will be a better year. That means what it means. The MTC is not dead. The MTC will survive and hope for better days. That won’t happen in 2023, but let’s wait and see. We have employees who will suffer the consequences of what is about to happen. We will support employees in these difficult times and will not let them down. The aim of the MTC is not only to organize race days, but also to ensure that equestrian sport in Mauritius advances. I didn’t become president of the Turf Club to shut down the MTCSL. We were here to run and keep running, but we can’t run in the current conditions. The club is open to members on race day. The MTC Annual General Meeting will take place in mid-April with audited financial statements as of December 31, 2022. This assembly must decide on the direction of the MTC in light of the audited figures as of December 31, 2022.”