A world without bad news, is a world without truth. I borrowed that little pearl of wisdom from an excellent recent Independent Newspapers advertisement. The fact is that horseracing doesn’t need more ‘sunshine journalism.’ The industry can surely only benefit from a few more rottweillers that growl when something is amiss and attack when there is clear and present danger. If the pussycats aren’t trespassing they have nothing to fear. Just stop ignoring the warning signs.
I probably shouldn’t be using my privileged position and my access pass to the wide open spaces of South Africa’s finest horseracing newspaper to involve myself in what could develop into a game of semantic ping-pong in defence of a cause. I feel, however, that the very friendly and relevant note in last week’s mailbag (SP 1669) from Mr Basil Thomas, warrants a response. He writes, amongst other things, that he is ‘simply interested in fair play and in balanced reporting…, Fair play?’ Where am I playing unfair? And then ‘balanced reporting’ means getting a response from both sides, I assume. Basil, believe me when I tell you that they don’t reply to media requests for comment – they never have. I existed in the Communications Department for five years, Sir! A former director jumped out of a balcony in Durban – we ignored the media. Allegations arise of horse cruelty and unwatered horses at a Sales ground – we ignored the media. A punter writes and complains – we ignore him. Ignorance is bliss and living in a bubble and choosing not to respond is frankly not the easy way out. It is short-sighted business play. It was like that when I was there and nothing much has changed. And nobody accused me of unbalanced reporting when I used to churn out my one –sided ‘honeybrush stuff’ as Charl Pretorius termed it. It was my job, I did it to promote the sport and I accepted it.
I know Mr Basil Thomas as a knowledgeable man and respected Accountant, who had a distinguished administrative career in horseracing – if I recall correctly, he served as a General Manager of the now sadly defunct Clairwood Turf Club. I had very few dealings with him in his capacity as a then Consultant to Gold Circle, although he did assist me with an understanding of the complicated concept of tax implications for racehorse owners and ring-fencing. He is an intellectual and a man of unquestioned integrity – a true old school gentleman. But this is not about Mr Thomas. It is about a fundamental absence of empathy and understanding of racing’s two biggest customers – its punters and owners – by a few good men, just like him, who are not seven day-a-week punters and who just don’t kill time ruining their marriages and sipping slow beers in smoky tote outlets..
I know I am fobbed off by some as a scorned jilted ex-employee of the racing operator and I won’t blame anybody for thinking that. They are entitled to a personal opinion and, foreign as the concept may be to those in the corridors of power, I respect the next man’s opinion. I must just seem like a two-faced hypocrite spin-doctor, who once sang the praises and danced to his master’s voice – and who these days is hellbent on destruction and sowing misinformation and untruths. Not true. While the repetitive nature of what I do may seem monotonous and as Mr Thomas says, ‘we got it…,’ why does nothing ever improve or change then? They may have ‘got it’….but they don’t ‘have it’….that’s for bloody sure. My Editor termed it ‘hammering’. Very appropriate. And for those who believe I blunder forward week in and week out and clutch on to every little piece of negativity that I can find, I would ask that they think again. I probably receive at least two leads per week of trashy scandalous stories that would probably only harm the game and serve no purpose other than reducing the credibility of this newspaper and costing people their jobs. Take the scandal of the owner of a July runner who stood up at a big race day and fired the CEO. I believe he fired the Catering Manager on the same day. Take the very recent story of the alleged manipulation of final fields to favour an individual well connected trainer and which resulted in a field of five standing up at the expense of a split field of twenty three horses, which landed up being eliminated down. And which must have cost the operator income in terms of reduced betting turnover. Then the KZN Trainers’ Association Chairman’s Report – a refreshingly shocking and frank letter that was a damning indictment on the strained relationships, egos and politics prevailing in that province. Besides the fact that I have the utmost respect for the Chairman of that body, I chose not to analyse and expose its contents in these columns. If I was really the angry and jilted ex-nobody then I would have and could have splashed these sensational allegations all over these pages and sat back and watched the blushing, denials and recriminations that would have flown. And I have so many more juicy stories to tell. But they are entirely inappropriate and I have, I believe, acted very responsibly in the circumstances and my aim is most definitely not to chase away punters or owners.
I actually restrict my writing and comment to items which I have experienced first hand and on which I consider myself qualified to comment upon. I don’t criticize to hurt horseracing or individuals against whom I have a perceived agenda. I am actually one of those people who watch racing seven days a week and spend many hours in totalisator outlets listening to fellow punters and demoralized tote staff, being brutally honest. The staff bemoan the lack of interest, the poor salaries and the long hours, and the general empathy on the part of their employees. And what the hell has that got to do with me, you may ask? Well the lack of morale impacts directly upon the atmosphere and service levels prevailing in the betting outlets. Ask any punters about the indifferent service, the bad attitude and the hopeless lack of direction and availability of information which exists. It will never change unless the operators adopt a radical policy swing from the highest level – that means from the Boardroom down. Why not take a leaf out of Pick n Pay’s recent rebranding exercise? Their Marketing Director- of all things a woman – is on record as saying: ”As customers are the foundation of our business, considerable time, effort and money went into the research required to determine not only what consumers thought of Pick n Pay, but identifying areas that customers felt could be improved. The world is not going to emerge from the recession in the same state. People have re-examined their purchasing behaviour during the recession and questioned the necessity of certain purchasing decisions…” I don’t think this is rocket science. .
In a parallel with horseracing, she went on to say that research showed that customers ‘loved’ the Pick n Pay brand. There is a fine line between love, addiction and hate. One way or another, us small guys at the coal face are hooked. We love the game – we love the gamble – we love the memories. In fact memories are about all most of us have to show for a lifetime of dedication. The majority of our decision makers are sadly on a different page in a very different world. And therein lies the rub.
This & That…………….
A Jock-Up Of Note
What exactly happened in the second race over 2400m at Durbanville on Saturday? Jockey Karis Teetan was ‘allowed’ to let the fancied West Island bowl ahead of the pack and escape to lead by about twenty lengths heading into the straight. He was unsurprisingly never headed and kept going to score an easy win. It was a clever change of riding tactics on an obviously fit horse who had been ridden with a little more restraint at his previous starts. A vastly experienced Cape Town racing man, whose opinion I respect, emailed me afterwards to say that every Jockey in the race should have been fined R10 000 for sleeping on the job. This is one time I am not going to side with the conspiracy theorists. The proven shrewd tactical mind of winning trainer Joey Ramsden and the underrated ability of his Mauritian jockey deserve more credit.than they are being given by the armchair critics.. This incident reminded me of the days when Chantal Moys (now Mrs Sean Cormack) used to ride her winners from the front in Cape Town. The jockeys behind her were inevitably always blamed before Miss Moys was given credit
King Of Queens
Apprentice Justine King rode the boys to sleep in the ninth winner of her career at Arlington on Monday when she drove the 100-1 shot Hollywood Miss up in the final strides to beat the 4-10 favourite Perestroika in the sixth race. Besides proving that there is no such thing as a racing certainty, she showed that she has plenty of natural balance and talent and her win is a credit to local SAJA Riding Master, Tex Davie. Keep going Justine!
Very Live Feed
You can stay where you are for the rest of your life – or, as the mainstay of PE trainers, Mitch Wiese, puts it – you can change to Epol. The personable and passionate Wiese has bounced right back to his best form in recent weeks and he credited his change of fortune, in a post-race interview at Arlington on Monday, to his switch to Epol.
Arthur’s Theme
Gold Circle deserve a royal pat on the back for keeping the Winning Ways show on air in its new and convenient time slot of Monday evening. While the show is a lot more branded and commercial – essential no doubt for its survival – it is chaired by two straight shooters in Paul Lafferty and James Goodman. Lafferty’s interview this past Monday with Anton Arthur Marcus was brilliant entertainment and essential viewing for any racing fan. Superman can’t be the easiest interview subject, as his answers are more curt than rambling of nature, but the natural rapport between two sharp wits made for great television. Part 2 of the Marcus interview will be aired this coming Monday – diarise it now. You won’t be disappointed.
Cape Interviews
‘To hell with the customers and Tellytrack viewers. We won’t do the recorded trainer interviews for the Diana Stakes Durbanville meeting because we are all off to a long weekend and a lekker party.’ ……. Is this how the memo went to Tellytrack Head Office in Rivonia to explain away the absence of trainer interviews on Saturday morning’s Under Starters Orders Show? Not good enough is it? But then again, the tail wags the dog and we are only the customers.
Life Of Brian
Crack lightweight jockey Brian Nyawo has joined the very successful Glen Kotzen Racing team out at the beautiful Woodhill Racing Estate in Paarl. The 22 year old, who seems to have disappeared off the radar in recent years, goes to scale at 52 kg and he can only benefit from being associated with a powerful and professional set-up. We wish this talented and capable young rider every success.
