‘Sometimes people try to drag you down to their level because it’s easier than working their way up to yours’ – Lynn Bannerman
But today, ‘they’ win. I’ve tried. I’ve really tried. I’ve enjoyed the Cape racing season – it’s been fun and exciting and everyone has gone out of their way to ensure that it’s been a rollercoaster of entertainment. The great and good have done their best to market South African breeding and racing as world class. The Queen’s Plate gave us glamour, the Met gave us glitz, and the Cape Premier Sale with its ambitious and fabulous venue provided us with theatre. It’s been sad to say farewell to Pocket Power as well as exciting to see the new juveniles make their first forays out onto the track.
I’ve resolutely tried to focus on the horses and the racing, I really have, but I’m afraid my patience and sense of humour have left the building.
The past few months have served up a litany of irritations that have finally got the better of me. We’ve done the horses in the wrong stalls thing to death now, but that really has got to be one of my absolute favourite clangers of last year. Then the draw debacle. PE (sorry guys) is a constant source of bemusement with loose horses, late starts, badly positioned speakers, fallen jockeys, wrong race distances called, etc. It’s become the rule, rather than the exception. But don’t feel bad. The jewel of the Cape is not far behind. Hit and miss sound during the l’Ormarins Queen’s Plate, (mostly miss for the first half of Met day), false starts and – a Met runner no less – being allowed to run. The entire race. With a hood on! It beggars belief. And yet, it’s on the Met day Stipes report in black and white. The utter absurdity and incompetence aside, it not only endangered the horse and rider in question, but the rest of the field with them.
Another local horse was recently pronounced as having had an EIPH and the statutory suspension imposed. Unfortunately later, more thorough investigation (with, like, some actual diagnostic equipment) showed this to be a misdiagnosis. Of course, no recourse was offered to the affected parties when the error was pointed out.
And while we’re discussing race day procedure, it may be a restricted area, but it’s worth going to have a look at the stabling area behind the Kenilworth parade ring sometime. It’s cramped, it’s disorganised and with the highly strung, highly fed horses that make use of the area, is an accident waiting to happen. It is to the eternal credit of our long-suffering and often overlooked grooms that we haven’t had any major disasters.
By now most of you are thinking that I’m being a bit precious, but these things directly affect the safety and welfare of my horse. To the transport company and the race day staff she may be just another horse. But to me that little horse represents year’s worth of time, money, effort and emotional investment. I need to know that the people I have to trust her to recognise and understand that fact. My horse may not be a feature runner, but put her life in danger and you had better be prepared to meet your maker.
I’ve said it before, we don’t need to be big and we don’t need to be clever, but we do need to get it right. Nonsense like basic race-day procedures cannot be allowed to be fouled up. Not because I’m being precious, but because having an organised, reliable system keeps my horse safe.
Above and beyond that, I’m prepared to be a little forgiving when it comes to Tellytrack and race day coverage, but it would be nice to actually see live interviews after races sometimes. While I’d usually berate someone for not going to support their runner on course, I, along with lots of other people, have interests in horses in other centres and therefore have to watch them run on TV. And when you’re holding a winning ticket (or a tiny share of a winning horse) and are filled with that warm fuzzy winning feeling, one really wants to hear what the trainer and jockey have to say there and then, rather than having to stand in line for a rushed and poor quality cell phone conversation with your trainer, or wait for the evening replays (assuming you can figure out when they’re flighted).
Having just publicly announced the steps forward in our AHS protocols and the possibility of hosting international racing, we are again facing an AHS outbreak and movement restrictions, which, after the recent heavy rains, looks as though it can only increase in severity.
And of course we still have the much discussed and much bungled recent Mad Hatter’s tea parties to discuss. Again, a litany of errors to try and reprimand someone for – as far as I can follow anyway – stating publicly something that a former NHRA director confirmed as fact shortly after. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I am not blessed in the brains department, but this really doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. But then a lot of my life lately feels as though I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole. Ah well, just call me Alice.
Is it just me, or do we seem to have our focus in all the wrong places here people ?
At the current point in time, I would like to suggest that it would be a little more profitable to focus on what people are doing than that people are saying. Apart from our administrators of course, who seem to say nothing.
No acknowledgement, no explanation. Just radio silence. Now considering that a lie can travel twice around the world before the truth can get its boots on, doesn’t it make sense, particularly in these jittery, uncertain times, to keep our industry supporters and participants involved and informed ?
Chances are that these things may already be being addressed in the corridors of power and in all likelihood there are some fantastically clever initiatives and plans being put into place. However, if that is the case, then thanks to the moratorium on addressing any issues in public, we will never be any the wiser. And what an absolutely fantastic concept that is. One would think that our board members and administrators are appointed by public vote to look out for the best interests of the industry. How then does it make any sense to completely refuse to engage with the people who put you all there in the first place ? I must try telling my boss to shut up, pay my salary, and sod off sometime and see how far that gets me.
From the bleachers in the parade ring to the leather sofas in the private boxes, everyone is dissatisfied. It may not be the popular opinion, but I’m sorry to say that it’s the truth. And you can dress it up any way you like, but the fact remains the same. However, the fact that people are still prepared to complain is an indicator, if nothing else, that there is at least still some life and that we do still care. Without people willing to stand up and trying to make a difference, racing would simply continue its slide into slow, quiet oblivion, and surely that’s a much worse alternative than having a few noses out of joint?
I wish we could get over this silly idea that a challenge to the status quo is seen a personal attack or bringing racing into disrepute. For goodness sake people. The only disreputable thing about criticism is when it is ignored to the detriment of the community as a whole. The criticism is not personal folks, it’s procedural. Stop being so precious and recognise it for what it is. There is no honour in avoiding the issues to try and save face. If nothing else, it’s too bloody late for that anyway. Bringing racing into disrepute. Honestly. Nevermind maintaining the integrity of racing – at the moment we simply need to keep it from coming apart at the seams. Niggly little problems have been creeping in for years, but instead of meeting and addressing problems head on, there is this utterly nonsensical culture of non-communication. So we putty up and duck tape over the cracks and breaks until the very fibre of the industry is eroding from the inside out.
According to their website, ‘the core function of the NHA Racing Division is to ensure that thoroughbred racing is provided with a competent and efficient racehorse and jockey control & monitoring service’. Gold Circle’s mission statement says that it wants ‘To become the premier racing jurisdiction through managing, developing and advancing horseracing and other forms of wagering and to maximize sustainable returns to stakeholders and participants.’ Both of these lead me to believe that we want our industry to be a success.
Karen Marie Moning said that ‘It is our actions that define us’. The trouble is that, as evidenced by some of the events listed above, our current habits seem to be ones of self-perpetuating mediocrity. While we have some wonderfully passionate, enthusiastic people in racing, it does not appear that our best people are best placed to make the most of their skills and talents.
With the sterling efforts of some big hitting sponsors and the massive drive to promote international interest and investment into our industry, and when we get it right, we get it very very right.
And so our problems and our solutions seem to lie in the same place – our people. We need a serious overhaul of how and why we do things. We have just welcomed in a new board at Gold Circle. They say that the definition of a politician is ‘One who shakes your Hand before elections, and your Confidence later’. Hmmm, let’s hope the forthcoming year proves my little joke wrong, because in these precarious times, we need nothing less than excellent people and excellent actions.
I will say it again –it is our actions that define us, gentlemen.
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