Mandaluyong Mayor Benhur Abalos called yesterday on Philippine Racing Commission (Philracom) chairman Florencio Fianza to step down to save the horse racing industry.
There were unconfirmed reports that Fianza has quit as racing chief last night.
Yesterday, the Sta. Ana Race Park in Makati, as well as hundreds of off-track betting stations nationwide, remained closed.
Abalos, Metropolitan Association of Race Horse Owners (MARHO) president, said they will continue their boycott, which has stopped horse racing for five days now, until Fianza resigns or is removed.
“We are willing to sacrifice just to remove him,” he said in an interview. “(Fianza) should step down for the love of the industry.”
Abalos said Fianza is trying to divert the public’s attention by making baseless claims of game fixing and rigging, and by showcasing how he is actually trying to reform the sport’s handicapping system.
“There is no comprehensive program,” he said. “He has a two-year-old or three-year-old program, and then what happens when the horses turn four years old?
“These are hollow accusations of rigging. And these are irresponsible statements coming from the chairman himself.”
Abalos said if there is game fixing, Fianza should have at least tried to investigate before making the allegations.
“Do not brand, do not resort to baseless accusations,” he said.
“These are people (small time race horse owners) who just want to enjoy the sport. We’re just here to enjoy it, not to gamble, that’s an uncalled for remark. For that he should apologize to racehorse owners.”
On the other hand, Fianza said he has done nothing to hurt the horse racing industry and urged race owners to end the impasse.
“This only boils down to a personal war and it is a pity that this (boycott) had to happen,” he said. “They don’t want to be led by someone who they cannot control. That’s the bottom line. In fact, if they really don’t want their three-year-old horses to be included in the progressive handicapping system, then all they need to do is not run those horses and propose a resolution.”
Fianza, a retired police general, said horse owners belonging to MARHO, the Philippine Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Organization (Philtobo) and Klub Don Juan de Manila (KDJM) have not declared their real agenda.
“All they want is my head, because they refuse to state their real agenda,” he said.
“I have not polarized myself from them. They have polarized themselves from the Philracom.”
Fianza said he has written letters to the three groups last year requesting for a dialogue on how to improve, among other things, the handicapping system.
“They don’t want the (new) rule because it doesn’t favor their interests. And that’s what’s hurting the industry, not me,” he said.
Fianza said as Philracom chairman, he has a “moral obligation” to protect the interest of the betting public.