The Chinese Zodiac lists 2010 as the year of the golden tiger. It will also go down in history as the year that South African horseracing was sadly horribly mauled in the public domain and virtually bled to death. I surfed the racing forums in a bid to find the positives and good amidst the embarassing morass of negativity. Thank goodness for our great horses, trainers, owners and jockeys. Their brilliance overshadows the politics and badly behaved hangers-on, even on a bad day. Cold comfort then if you are off-side. 2011 is, after all, the year of the rabbit.
When measured against the performances this year of our top horses, jockeys and trainers, horseracing’s leadership should be hanging their heads in shame. Simply put, there is no evidence of direction but plenty of finger-pointing and ego. There is no communication – but plenty of waffle and name calling. Petty squabbling, vindictiveness and selfishness have gone hand in hand with conspiracy, misinformation and sweet little remedial action as the sport came under fire from virtually all sectors and interest groups in an economic climate that, admittedly, did little to calm the troubled waters. As the sun sets on 2010, it is high time for the old guard to take the honourable route of falling on their swords. There are, after all, no Mandelas or De Klerks amongst them and too much muddy water under the bridge and chronic material differences for reconciliation and a re-focus. We need to now welcome the young guns and embrace a new generation of open-minded accountable men and women who are capable of bringing the crowds and the serious fun back to horseracing.
But the year 2010 wasn’t all doom and gloom and it kicked off on a sparkling note with the legendary Pocket Power’s fourth win in the 149TH renewal of South Africa’s prestigious WFA mile, the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate. The fastest growing racing and social event on the South African calendar was without a shadow of doubt one of my own most memorable days and, while probably an unfair comparison, outstripped anything that I had ever experienced on J&B Met day. For pure comfort, style and entertainment, there can be little to rival a step into the blue and white escape that is this magic afternoon of superb horseflesh and beautiful people. The year 2011 sees sponsor L’Ormarins deservedly and proudly standing on the brink of history. A world record of five straight Grade 1 wins waits nervously to be equalled by the evergreen Pocket Power. He faces an upstart member of the opposite sex, who towers over him physically and looks to make history by becoming the first three year old member of the fairer sex to win this great race. Ebony Flyer is trained by an equally gung-ho and rightly cocky member of the glam generation, Justin Snaith. The Snaith racing machine has put the sizzle into the Cape’s Summer Season far more than the operator’s half-hearted marketing efforts could ever hope to do. They are riding the crest of a tidal wave. His goodlooking – as kindly defined by my esteemed colleague Robyn Louw – younger brother, Jono, is one of the leading marketing driving forces behind the passion and energy that makes this wonderful day . The two opposing stables are firm and longstanding family friends dating back four decades. Justin Snaith is young enough to address Pocket’s trainer Mike Bass, as ‘sir’ or ‘uncle’ . Pocket is old enough in horsey terms to have been Ebony’s dad. They,along with another major contender in Hassen Adams’ Past Master, share the same sire, Jet Master. Who else, you may ask – and an equine dynasty and work of art in progress, if ever I saw one.
We have great horses and good people amongst us in abundance and it is days like the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate that remind us why we go racing and provide the escape from the mundane and lecherous politics that clouded 2010’s blue skies. And we haven’t even mentioned the likes of South Africa’s unrivalled greatest trainer of the modern era – Mike de Kock. Mother Russia will be here. Back in her hometown where she started her brilliant rise to fame under the wily guise of another very astute horseman – Joey Ramsden. Even our own American man, Mitch Wiese, is here proudly representing the underrated resources of the Eastern Cape. His horse may be rated a mere 91, but hell if you haven’t got a ticket, you haven’t got a chance and Andrew Fortune did once call Mitch the ‘most positive person he had ever met.’ There are less than twenty nominations – he could well get a run. I hope he does.
The stark realities and flipside of the 2010 coin are, however, clearly outlined in the largely frustrated expressions of the posters on the electronic pages of the mercilessly frank mouthpiece that is the Scotfree Racing Website (www.scotfreeracingwebsite.com). This site’s popularity soared in 2010 as frustrated and poorly informed punters, owners and trainers vented their anger and asked their questions. Interestingly, it was not only the racing operators that came under fire – the Racing Association and National Horseracing Authority enjoyed their fair share of the limelight. Scotfree proprietor Steve Reid, Racing Web Editor Charl Pretorius and trainer Louis Goosen shared the most popular and visited topic of the year – their summonsing by the NHRA to face charges of bringing the sport into disrepute. Pretorius’ matter has been postponed and Goosen was exonerated and cleared. For Reid, however, the story goes on. This action, together with litigatory threats by a leading Bloodstock Consultant for his comments in a thread entitled, ‘ R50k minimum bid at National Yearling Sale’, were the only real signs of action or response on the part of the formal structures. Reid made comments in a thread entitled ‘the Larry and Mo Show – an expose of infighting at the NHRA’ and also separately made statements that incidents of ‘buying back’ for clients had occurred at the Sales. The legal threat by the Bloodstock man was retracted and as for the NHRA ‘charges’ – they initially fouled up Reid’s formal notice with the wrong date but now appear determined to soldier forward in spite of the fact that what he said in the thread has seemingly been vindicated as the truth by the subsequent angry revelations of a former NHRA Director on Racing Web. With so much mud being thrown at the NHRA all over the place, one wonders why the tireless focus on Reid?
There are plenty of other contentious issues that have dominated 2010. The tote dividends debacle;the Smiley Moosa story; the apparent unlawful use of national colours for the International Jockey Challenge; reduced stakes; Night racing at Turffontein; and of course, the RA, the RA , the RA… We can go on and on. Through it all there has been no constructive engagement on the part of anybody or any attempt to calm the troubled waters or appease the masses. This undercurrent of dissatisfaction is being ignored at great peril. This will be a watershed year. For now, thank heavens again for the great horses and the good people. We may be in trouble on all fronts but let’s focus on the good in 2011 and get back to the basics.
