Are we ever old enough to say we can’t be taught something?
Saturday 24 October 2020 is yet another day that will go down as having taught me a lesson that, while I have turned my life around in many respects, at the age of 53 I still have so much to learn.
The incident involving Gavin Lerena at Turffontein was an embarrassment to the sport of racing, to my family, myself and to the fundamental principles of civility and decency that we all try and inculcate in our children.
While my entirely unacceptable actions were a culmination of years of banter and frustration, something that started as good clean professional needle evolved into an outrageous action that saw me let everybody down. There are no excuses.
I thought it was easier giving up drugs than having to put my pride in my pocket and say sorry. But I have apologised to Gavin Lerena and to my family. And it wasn’t difficult at all.
I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly apologise to racing’s stakeholders, my colleagues, Phumelela and the National Horseracing Authority.
I am ready to take my punishment on the chin because what I did was disgraceful.
