JANUARY 3 – 9
The Jockey Club confirms the appointment of Dave Fisher as chief stipe in the Transvaal and Free State. Fisher, 38, succeeds Dudley Feldman, who has taken up an appointment in Macao.
Former jockey Bartie Leisher, injured in a fall in Hong Kong and forced to retire, taken up training. His first runner is called I’m a Spark.
In the Cape, racing finally returns to Milnerton. True to Murphy’s Law, a printing error in the local racecard still shows Kenilworth as the racecourse to be for the R100.000 Peninsula handicap.
That race is won in record time by the filly Perfect Order, who clips an unbelievable 1.4 seconds of Mark Anthony’s time, headwind and all. Crown Estate finishes a short head second, and earns himself a place in the J&B Met line-up, where Michael Roberts will be in the saddle.
On the same day at Gosforth Park, trainer Ferraris saddles the winners of five of the nine races on the card. He wins the feature event with Launching Pad. Four of the five winners are ridden by Piere Strydom.
JANUARY 10 – 16
Delta Bloodstock’s Robin Bruss pays an approximate R350.000 for a filly at the Australian yearling sales at Sanctuary Cove on the Queensland Gold Coast. The filly is a daughter of champion racemare Emancipation and bought on behalf of Johannesburg businessmen Rob Thorpe and Roger Zeeman.
The two Cape turf clubs and the Cape tote place an advertisment calling for a GM – Western Province Racing Management Services.
The ad states “the ideal applicant would have an in-depth knowledge of and commitment to the Horse Racing Industry, have demonstratively strong financial, administrative and interpersonal skills and be market orientated. A proven track record of leadership and profit orientated drive are essential requirements of the position”.
According to the ad placed by Aiken & Peat, the job embraces “financial management of a business with a turnover of R500 million pa and total assets of 75 million; administration of Thoroughbred Horse Racing; computers, communications and information technology; betting and marketing promotions; human resource management”.
Applications are said to be treated in the strictest of confidence.
It is most interesting to note that the advertisement for the job appears only once, and then on the racing page of The Argus on Wednesday January 13 – not bad for a GM’s position in a “R500 million turnover” organisation…
At Turffontein, three-year-old Elliodor gelding Lord Shirldor scores his third win from six starts and becomes a serious contender for the Dingaans, a race that’s this year run in February (what’s in a name?).
At Milnerton, Signor Amigo comes back to his best form and wins the Gr1 Cape Flying Championship for the second year running. Signor Amigo beats Taban and Gangleader in a fast time of 58 seconds for the 1000m weight-for-age race.
On the eight-race card at the track no less than three course records are broken.
JANUARY 17 – 23
Cape breeders who failed to get their yearlings onto the Goodwood Yearling Sale club together to stage the Cape Invitation Yearling Sale. Held at Boshoff Farm Stud near Durbanville a useful crowd attends on a hot Sunday. Top price at the sale, conducted by John Marcus and Sons, is R36.000 paid for a Foveros filly to be trained by Nigel Riley. Sixty yearlings changed hands at the sale for an average of just under R6.000.
Steve Cauthen declines to ride the horses of Sheik Mohammed in 1993, when the parties fail to reach financial agreement. Cauthen, three times British champion, and the Sheik part on good terms. The American jockey, 32, is rumoured to want to give up his permanent battle with the scales and hang up his boots. The Sheik is said now to be in negotiation with Michael Kinane, 32, Irish champion jockey for eight of the last nine years and already a big-race winner on several of the Sheik’s horses.
Transvaal Provincial authorities introduce a new control board, which will “do what Province has done before, except that it will not have legislative powers”. Racing industry members appointed to serve on the new Board are the chairmen of the three racing clubs in the Transvaal, plus Laurie Jaffee.
Amongst other things, the board will control bookmakers and tote operations, and should also streamline the appropriation of funds from the development fund and cut the red tape.
Chairman of the new board is “Jacot” Jacot-Guillarmod, who states that “because of the powers vested in the board we can get a lot more things done, more efficiently”.
In the Cape, a six-month probe by the firm of Deloitte and Touche (reportedly at a cost of half a million Rand) comes up with the staggering suggestion that Cape racing should be privatised, or that a Cape Racing Management Board should be established similar to a holding company board – resulting in a loss of authority traditionally vested in the stewards.
Current Cape Racing Board chairman Galombik states that the recommendation for the restructuring and possible privatisation of the industry would not necessarily be accepted. Galombik also states that members of a steering committee, to be appointed as a “matter of urgency”, will study the review. The steering committee consists of one representative from each of the four Cape racing clubs (WP, EP, Kmbley), one from each of the two Owners and Trainers Associations (WP, EP), one Cape Breeders representative, and three representatives from Province (one of whom is chairman and has a casting vote).
The review to be considered by the steering committee also suggests the closure of one or more of the W-Cape courses, and more specifically supports closure of the Durbanville track.
To improve financial matters, the review suggests an immediate 15% cut in stakes, amalgamation of management and staff of the two raceclubs (saves R1.5 million), increase stable rents to fully commercial rates, increase bookmaker’s contributions, increase club membership fees to be on par with clubs providing similar facilities and privileges.
The review also suggests that alternative forms of gambling be combatted by including greyhound racing and sport betting, and that the Tote’s infra-structure be used for any future lottery business that may be legalised. And finally, that a motivation is prepared for Inland Revenue to have gambling on horse racing exempted from VAT.
Jockey Mark Khan attempts to slow up the pace in front on Display Model in the Gr1 Arc-en-Ciel Paddock Stakes at Kenilworth. Khan had succeeded with similar tactics on the Majorca Stakes a few weeks back. He overdoes things somewhat this time, and goes too slow. His filly is outsprinted in the straight by Roberts’ mount Clear Creek and winner Model School – like Display Model a daughter of first season sire Model Man. This means that two sons of Elliodor to go to stud have now sired Gr1 winners in their first crops.
Longest priced winner on the Arc-en-Ciel sponsored day is 12/1 shot Endebeni. Coincidence? Endebeni is the name of Arc-en-Ciel owner Shirley Pfeiffer’s Constantia home. Who says racing isn’t rigged?
JANUARY 24 – 30
Plans to set up a quarantine station for racehorses on Robben Island are at an early stage, says a Jockey Club spokesman. The remark came at the conclusion of a visit by European vets to look at ways to overcome the African Horse Sickness syndrome, currently the major stumbling block that prevents export of horses from South Africa to Europe.
Marie Galante suffers an unexpected defeat in the Gr2 Southern Cross Stakes over 1000m at Kenilworth, when Blushing Dove (Comic Blush – Have Faith) flies up to deprive Star of Light and Foverflo from victory. Marie Galante runs fourth.
No surprises in the J&B Met, when odds-on favourite Empress Club reigns supreme to win by just under two lengths from Flaming Rock, Secret Rites and Spanish Galliard. At 6/10, the filly starts as the shortest priced favourite in the history of the Met. Second placed Flaming Rock pushes his earnings through the R2 million barrier, the first male horse in South Africa to do so.
Empress Club next mission will be the R1.25 million Administrators Cup, run at Gosforth Park over 2000m in April. Rumours persist that the filly, who is the first since Renounce to complete the Guineas/Met double, will race abroad if quarantine problems can be overcome.
Attendance and betting records are broken on Met day. Betting was up 3% on last year, while an estimated 40.000 people found their way to the Kenilworth track despite the drizzly weather.
