Greg Bortz – facing Mother Nature head on (Pic – Supplied)
Cape Racing boss Greg Bortz has negotiated compromises, closed multi digit deals, and dealt with all-comers of various shapes and sizes in his years of corporate hand-to-hand combat in boardrooms across the world.
But has Mother Nature got the widely respected entrepreneur’s measure in the Cape Of Storms?
“A few sleepless nights and a bit of distractive aggravation, yes. But we have an outstanding team, and the determination and the foresight to overcome the challenges!” he declares boldly in an interview with the Sporting Post as the seemingly endless rain fell over the mint crisp landscape of a murky Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Mandela Day.
“We have faced bigger challenges than the weather, and we are monitoring and changing plans hourly. It’s all systems go,” adds Bortz.
War talk is a Bortz trait and his Cape Racing team announced on Wednesday that given the forecast for the weather to improve dramatically from the weekend and into the latter parts of this month, that they have boldly rescheduled four racemeetings in double quick time, while watching the threatening spectre of the steel grey skies in the process.
The Milnerton training centre was under water as we spoke and water tables are overflowing at all venues under their control.
Milnerton Training Centre under water on Thursday morning at 09h31 (Pic – Supplied)
“We have both racecourses ready, and are taking real-time readings simultaneously as we monitor the option of racing at HQ or heading out to the country course. The Outside Broadcast van is idling as we look to react at the drop of a hat. The logistics of switching venues is a practical challenge in itself. But I believe we have done it right, carding four meetings in a week using both tracks,” adds Bortz as he points to the 42mm of overnight rain at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth versus the 5mm at Hollywoodbets Durbanville.
Hollywoodbets Kenilworth has received 508mm of rain since 1 July!
A bird’s eye-view of the Milnerton Training Centre on Thursday morning:
The Sporting Post asked Greg Bortz whether there was a plan to use the innovation of Bedouin tents and covers to protect the Hollywoodbets Durbanville track as his team had done last year.
“Thankfully we have no track concerns now – enormous money has been spent on drainage everywhere and it is excellent at both tracks. That said, when we receive a deluge of multiple mm over a 2-week period, unless the horses become ducks, and the jockeys wear life jackets and snorkels, there is no chance of racing. Unfortunately, we can’t turn our courses into indoor arenas!” he quipped.
Justin Vermaak -innovating and planning (Pic – Supplied)
Cape Racing Executive: Racing & Bloodstock Justin Vermaak said that trainers had been kept abreast of plans and developments on a daily basis, and that a cutting edge philosophy and brand new approach to nominations had been adopted at short notice with the assistance of the National Racing Bureau to curtail the impact of the uncontrollable in the equation, while at the same time optimizing field sizes.
“As we all know, our two racecourses are very different in character and nature, but our stakeholders have been very open-minded and flexible as regards selectivity and preference. We don’t have any luxuries of choice right now and what we aim to do is get racing going with the best fields possible as soon as it is realistically safe for horse and rider to do so,” added Vermaak, who endorsed a vote of confidence in their respective track management teams, who he labelled ‘the best in the country’.
A race meeting has been added at Hollywoodbets Durbanville on Thursday 25 July and at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Tuesday 30 July.
The racing programme for this last part of the season will therefore be as follows:
- Mon July 22: Hollywoodbets Kenilworth
- Thurs July 25: Hollywoodbets Durbanville
- Sat July 27: Hollywoodbets Kenilworth
- Tues July 30: Hollywoodbets Kenilworth
Follow www.caperacing.co.za for the latest updates.
