Il est le premier Chief Executive Officer dans l’histoire du Mauritius Turf Club. Il est venu, il a vu, mais n’a pas encore conquis ! Mike Rishworth mesure en tout cas l’énorme défi qui l’attend, ayant eu l’occasion de parcourir tous les rapports publiés sur l’industrie hippique et de rencontrer, en tête-à-tête, quelques-uns des stakeholders. 

Il a eu également suffisamment de temps pour se faire une première idée, en tant que CEO du MTC, de ce qu’est l’île Maurice plurielle avec les spécificités propres à elle, mais aussi ses vérités, parfois cruelles. Entre l’image que lui projetait Maurice lorsqu’il y était en lune de miel et celle qu’il découvre en tant que CEO du MTC, la dissemblance est flagrante.

Mais l’homme est déterminé à réussir. Sa réussite, qui sera aussi celle de l’ensemble de l’hippisme mauricien, passera inévitablement par les challenges suivants :

• “Despite recent efforts for more transparency and greater democratisation, there appears to linger a lack of respectability for the horse racing industry in that public and government perception that horse racing is fixed still exist ;
• Operating for only eight months of the year provides trainers and jockeys with an unsustainable income which has to be supplemented by betting which is obviously highly undesirable;
• The current facilities and infrastructures are inadequate to sustain racing for the full year with a complement of +/- 550 horses specifically with regard to : training centre(s), boxes at the Champ de Mars, track and paddock amenities, general public facilities, and technology facilities and amenities;
• Illegal betting and unrecorded betting deny income to the Mauritius Turf Club and the State of Mauritius and are highly detrimental to both entities;
• There appears to still exist a mistrust between the Government and the Mauritius Turf Club;
• The current structure of the Mauritius Turf Club perpetuates the negative perceptions of club status, a non-profit ethic, requires the benevolence of stewards, restricts office bearers to short terms of office and requires the approvals of members for change, all of which has an impact on efficiency;
• Despite its expertise and experience and being the only internationally recognized organiser of horse-racing in Mauritius, the Mauritius Turf Club does not control its own destiny in that :
• It has no direct control or ownership of the bookmakers and or totes from which it earns the majority of its revenues; and
• It doesn’t control the fixture list or the number and days of racing in the calendar;
• There may be inadequate communication and marketing to the public and other stakeholders resulting in negative press comment and an imbalance in perceptions;
• The perception is that racing is controlled by white, elitist and wealthy patrons;
• Insufficient recognition is given to owners for their contribution to the horse racing industry save and except for the efforts made by the current board of administrative stewards; and
• The location in the centre of Port-Louis is not ideal environmentally and tenure might be limited despite the recent conclusion by the current board of administrative stewards of a 20-year concession over the race course and the Champ de Mars.”

Savez-vous quand toutes ces “weak­nesses”, qui font obstacle à un épanouissement sain du monde hippique, avaient été révélées ? En avril 2008 ! A l’issue d’une Strategic Planning Conference organisée par l’organisateur des courses lui-même, réunissant, outre les dirigeants du Club, des représentants de la GRA, de la communauté des entraîneurs, de la presse, du Tote et des bookmakers, et des officiels des courses sud-africaines. Dix ans plus tard, le MTC, par manque de volonté d’abord et de soutien aussi, reste dans les starting blocks, car presque aucune de ces faiblesses n’a pu être surmontée. A Rishworth donc de réussir là où tous les dirigeants du MTC ont failli !