Arnold, on the right, pictured with colleague Cecil Van As
The National Horseracing Authority recently appointed a Gr1 ‘stayer’ to the position of Racing Control Executive. The athletic and obviously fit and health conscious Arnold Hyde has run 18 Two Oceans Marathons and marks a milestone of his 20th Comrades this year.
“I am proud of my best time of 6:17 (43rd position) for the Comrades and am always aiming to improve on it – although none of us are getting any younger!” he laughs.
The clean-cut Arnold Dean Hyde, a vegetarian of some 26 years standing, has only been in office a few weeks, but his approach to dealing with our telephone enquiries has already shown that he is a man in much the same mould as his predecessor, Dave McGillivray.
Open Door
Some racing administrators don’t see the media as anything less aggravating than a power outage – we are there, we pop up from time to time and they can’t seem to understand the purpose of our existence.
But Arnold Hyde has been refreshing. He returns telephone calls and emails – and that gives us great hope.
“I have an open door policy and consider communication vitally important, especially between all the role players in the sport.”
For arm’s length working relationships, it is also a positive for the industry and the racing public to get to know the human being behind the façade of the position of authority. Horseracing has enough Ivory Tower dwellers, as it is!
Hyde is not one of them, judging by his friendly demeanour and the fact that he talks openly and proudly about his life and his family at our first interaction.
Zimbabwean
Born in Gwelo, in the then Rhodesia in 1971, Arnold enjoyed growing up in the rural surroundings with his twin brother and 2 older sisters.
The family emigrated to Cape Town in 1979 and he attended Sea Point Boys’ High until Matric.
The natural sportsman played 1st team Rugby, Cricket, Athletics and Cross Country, and that competitive streak has followed him through his professional life.
He completed compulsory National Service after school in Grahamstown (6SAI- Infantry), Army Intelligence in Pretoria and ended up completing his time at The Castle in Cape Town.
After National Service he did Exercise and Movement Studies, Gym Instructing and Personal Training, Exercise and Testing Diplomas, an Advanced Diploma in Sports Management and Turfgrass Management.
Experienced
His first taste of the horseracing industry came in 1998 as a part time Judge in Port Elizabeth and he commenced full time as a Stipendiary Steward in 2000 in Port Elizabeth.
Hyde met his wife Santie, who worked at East Cape Racing at the time, whilst living in Port Elizabeth and they were married in 2001. They have two children.
He was transferred to Durban in 2002, where he spent 5 years progressing to the position of Senior Stipendiary Steward before being promoted to Deputy Chief Stipendiary Steward in the Western Cape in 2007.
He spent a happy seven years in the Cape before being promoted to Chief Stipendiary Steward Central Provinces at the end of 2014.
After only 4 months in this position, and following the departure of Dave McGillivray, he was promoted to the vitally important position and hotseat of Racing Control Executive from the beginning of this month.
Arnold says that while the role he has to play is a diverse one, he plans to commence immediately by placing an emphasis on enhancing the image of the NHA and ensuring that there is more consistency from the Stipendiary Boards around the Country.
“I want to add value to the growth and development of the current Stipendiary Stewards in Southern Africa. I was extremely fortunate personally to benefit from very experienced gentlemen like Harold Taylor, Dudley Feldman and David McGillivray, who had no hesitation in sharing their knowledge and wealth of experience.”
Ed- The 90th edition of the Comrades Marathon, with the theme ‘Be Part of It – Bamba Iqhaza’, will be run on Sunday, 31 May. It is an ‘up run’ from Durban to Pietermaritzburg.
