Horseracing’s poor relationship with the independent media was highlighted by the recent Vodacom Durban July tragedy. The sport was made to look stupid and cruel and even though the dust has settled briefly until the next round, the indirect cost and impact will never be quantified. Hearts and doors need to be opened and we need to allow the world in. Otherwise growth and expansion will be a pipe dream forever. In essence, stop taking ourselves so bloody seriously, lighten up and admit that we are mortals living in a real world.
This democracy of ours is now seventeen years old and as a nation we appear to be slowly learning to laugh at ourselves. And I am not only thinking here about comedians like Leon Schuster and Julius Malema alone. In horseracing our industry leaders need to concede the existing structural faults and acknowledge the failings. That is the only way survival plans and essential maintenance can be undertaken. Just accept that general realities do exist. But what are they? That we have been cruel to horses at times? That avarice is a human trait? That gambling is instrinsically destructive? That there is insufficient depth and skill at management level? That they don’t really have their fingers on the pulse? That there are a lot of disillusioned brilliant minds who don’t contribute? That there are differences of opinion? That we come from vastly differing cultural and class backgrounds?
But hey, let’s not get too personal now. Growing up in Woodstock has an element of romance and the dramatic about it. Especially while enjoying a few beers in the Red Lion.
Most of us forty-somethings understand a little about life. Like apartheid, for example. We lived through it , albeit on the greener side of the street. We don’t deny it existed and we can hardly forget it did – our new government reminds us whiteys every day of our lives. And on this thought, I had a good laugh yesterday. Trainer Cliffie Miller’s little chirp to Alvin August after the first race at Kimberley on Monday, was funny and impulsive. He suggested to Alvin that he was not invited to the party that was going to be had on Markus Jooste’s R10 000 RA winning owner bonus cheque, as the function was for ‘whites only.’ There was unquestionably no hint of premeditation or maliciousness in the comment and besides those hypocrites who will be distancing themselves from ‘such heinous and abhorrent innuendo and rhetoric’, the rest of the world would have had a good chuckle. You know you have conquered adversity when you are able to laugh at it. And our racing gods should try the lightening up thing a little. We are all human – some just a little less sane than others.
Ben Trovato, writing in his Whipping Boy piece in the Sunday Times recently also had a lighthearted dig at horseracing. He says: ‘ I have never seen the point of horses. They are little more than very tall dogs with long noses.’ He then goes on to talk about seeing his first horse: ‘I think I saw my first horse the first time I saw my first darkie. It’s possible the darkie was on the horse. Or stealing the horse. I seem to remember gunshots.’ His wife suggested on the morning of the July that they have a ‘flutter’ on the July: ’ We don’t speak openly of gambling because, as far as sins go, it is up there with gluttony and coveting your neighbour’s ass.’
He talks of his betting shop in Muizenberg: ‘ The nearest drugs and whores are also located there, but this should be seen more as a failing of my own area than a feather in Muizenberg’s cap. Pausing only to pat Cerberus a few times, I strode through the entrance like a lion from Zion. One cannot show fear in the tote or the tab or whatever it is these places are called. I helped Brenda over the sleeping guard and entered what seemed to be a twilight zone for the living dead. I felt right at home. It was like being in the grungiest bar at the most derelict end of the universe.‘
He goes on about the counter service: ’ A woman with the eyes of a sedated panda shook her head, then opened her mouth and made a sound like someone shovelling wet gravel. Maybe she was a little horse.’
He adds that his wife was standing at a counter marked ‘Fixed Odds’ arguing with someone who looked like he might have been the trigger man in the Sea Cottage shooting. ‘ I shouted across the room that the odds didn’t matter, since all the races were fixed anyway. If the punters had the strength to get off their chairs they would have lynched me.’
If you are a regular guy and a punter and you frequent a tote, you will readily identify with Trovato’s comments. As much as you may not enjoy his alternative humour and unrefined manner of expressing himself. But what he says is something we have all experienced. So why deny it? Do we actually even really want to fix it?
Nobody is talking but there is so much positive happening at the moment in this industry. Take the Cape – KZN divorce. Most marriages end that way. Even that one you attended recently amid the tears and joy. You know where the first dance was the moving ‘Endless Love.’ And even divorces can be happy events sometimes. Especially if both parties find new love elsewhere. The demerger of the KZN and Western Cape can be a positive step in the right direction. Or maybe the marriage could still be saved? As long as both sides work together afterwards – in the interests of the children. But use the media to advantage!
The frightening thing is that it is mindblowing to consider that it has taken a leap into the 21st century for horseracing to acknowledge the vital role of the press. But better late than never, hey? The Racing South Africa Equus Racing Journalist of the Year award is a positive step in the right direction. It is open to all journalists and will be judged by Racing SA and Alison Mckenzie and Howard Wright of the International Racing Post. Who on earth are they?
The media blurb suggests that ‘loyal support and positive contribution or coverage of the sport during the South African Horseracing season is essential.’ Who will be the judge of that aspect, I wonder? Does currying favour and spewing propaganda take precedence over the truth and accuracy? Does personal opinion have no place in the game? Let’s ask the operators to publish their big race media policy and their invite lists. A little bit of the whole truth lies therein. But this is not about being nasty and spiteful and who really cares?
Mike De Kock hasn’t entered Igugu for the Horse Of The Year category, has he? Why must journalists fill in applications forms to justify and force their way in? We shouldn’t have to submit an application as if we are applying for a new ID book. If they really cared, the industry would know and the correct judges would be able to find the talent out there.
But let’s bury perceptions and individual egos for one day. Allow Journalists to submit their entries anonymously. Remove the subjectivity and the smile and smoke should really matter not. Let the independence of the work be the overriding factor. It will be a watershed. They are colleagues and friends and frankly I neither mind nor care who wins the award. David Mollett, Ben Trovato, Charl Pretorius , Robin Louw or David Thiselton. One of them must be a shoe-in. May the best man, or woman sorry Robin, win it. But ultimately racing needs to be the real winner. And we all seem to forget that. The next generation is just around the corner, and soon all the players of today will be consigned to the scrap heap of yesterday. That’s the reality of life.
