The Mauritius Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) has hit out at a local newspaper, after it published an anonymous report criticising the regulator’s horse racing division.
On Tuesday, the Mauritius news outlet L’Express published a report written by “one or more” unnamed horse racing experts.
The report highlighted shortcomings in the Horse Racing Integrity Division (HRID), which was set up in 2025 by the Gambling Regulatory Authority to oversee all horse racing matters in Mauritius.
The L’Express report raised concerns over “structural dysfunctions, erratic rule enforcement, inconsistent sanctions and disciplinary investigations often deemed incomplete or legally flawed”.
In response, the GRA criticised the anonymous nature of the published report, explaining it hadn’t been contacted by L’Express for its views or comments.
According to the GRA, this isn’t the first time that L’Express has taken such a “cavalier attitude” towards the authority.
In the press release issued on Thursday, the GRA stated it was considering legal action.
“The Authority does not subscribe to the contents of the publication referred to above and takes strong exception to the averments and innuendos contained therein and expressly reserves its right to take such legal action as it may be advised against the owner, publisher and editor-in-chief of L’Express,” the GRA said.
“The Authority, more specifically the Horse Racing Integrity Division, reiterates that it acts, at all times, within the parameters of its statutory framework, in all transparency and will continue to do so without fear or favour.”
Mauritius horse racing under the spotlight
The anonymous report claimed that while the HRID’s workforce was around four times larger than that of the previous Horse Racing Division, the expertise of those managing day-to-day regulation of horse racing had declined.
It said that as a result, the HRID’s oversight of horse racing in Mauritius has been hampered, leading to serious breaches of betting integrity.
The report claims there were consistent integrity failings, with inconsistent and unexplained sanctions for riders and inaccurate or incomplete reports from stewards.
The report specified a number of horses and races in which it felt stewards had failed to uphold the integrity of Mauritian horse racing.
There were no investigations into a number of horses that failed to finish races, as well as an “insufficiently rigorous” approach from stewards to equipment declarations.
The report argues these regulatory lapses led to direct financial consequences for bettors.
Concerns extended beyond stewarding to animal welfare, with an unusually high proportion of veterinary reports.
The report also raised significant conflicts of interest, questioning the independence of the HRID, with many employees holding strong ties to the Mauritius Turf Club (MTC).
It claims the HRID board of racing stewards includes three MTC members and one former MTC employee. It’s also alleged that the criteria for a senior role were altered to allow a former MTC employee to be appointed.
The report summarised its findings by stating they demonstrated “systemic failures in stewarding competence, consistency and application of the rules”.
It warned that the performance of racing stewards undermined the creation of the HRID and its objective of restoring confidence and integrity to Mauritius horse racing.
According to the report, unless significant reform is undertaken, the integrity issues will continue to persist.
Notably, the GRA response did not address the specific allegations outlined in the report.
An anonymous report claims the horse racing sector in Mauritius is being poorly regulated by the newly created Horse Racing Integrity Division.