Sands of Time: July 1993
JUNE 27 – JULY 3 Hidden Fortune secures a bonus cheque of R300.000 when he wins the SA St Leger, third leg of the Newmarket
4th July 2013
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Historic items in SA Racing
JUNE 27 – JULY 3 Hidden Fortune secures a bonus cheque of R300.000 when he wins the SA St Leger, third leg of the Newmarket
A look back at horse racing history from South Africa and abroad, going back 20 years ago to June 1993
Regions of the Cape horse racing industry are to be placed under one controlling body… The British Jockey Club is considering the introduction of random dope testing for jockeys… Frankie Dettori is cautioned by British police for possessing a small amount of cocaine… Michael Roberts survives an objection to win the Irish 2000 Guineas…
Grand National – cock-up beyond the realm of farce… How the Jockey Club copes with crime… Empress Club opens 5/2 July favourite… 7yo Senor Santa wins another Cup… Mark Khan relocates north…
Natal raceclubs re-introduce breakfast racing… Empress’ earnings pass the R3 million… Natal Tote reduces the Pick Six betting unit from 50 to 10 cent… Selwyn Lipschitz brings off a clever gamble… Computaform launches Computab…
Michael Roberts officially accepts an offer from Sheikh Mohammed to ride the Arab ruler’s horses in Europe… The Natal Tote introduces the Quartet bet…. Cape media react indignantly to the overturning of a penalty for excessive whipping…. SA champion jockey Jeff Lloyd rides winners of six of the ten races at Clairwood….
Empress Club, at odds of 6/10, starts as the shortest priced favourite in the history of the Met… Plans to set up a quarantine station for racehorses on Robben Island are at an early stage, says a Jockey Club spokesman…. In the Cape, a six-month probe by Deloitte and Touche results in the recommendation that Cape racing should be privatised…. Transvaal Provincial authorities introduce a new control board…
The Ready-to-Run sale, held at Kenilworth, averages a modest R6.000 for 39 lots; Goldmark is voted Cape Horse of the Year; the Gr1 Cape Guineas is a triumph for Hassen Adams’ Damascus Stud; Tote betting in Japan reaches $29 billion for 1992; Empress Club wins the Queen’s Plate by 3 lengths and is confidently expected to start at odds-on for the J&B Met. Admits one bookmaker: “I wish I had nothing to do with the race”.
Michael Roberts officially wins the British champion jockey title as the curtain falls on the current season.The Cape Turf Club drops a bombshell when its scheduled summer campaign is moved from Milnerton to Kenilworth. The unit of betting in the Pick Six is reduced from 50c to 10c in the Cape, and couplings are abolished from all forms of Tote betting. Zimbabwe racing celebrates its centenary, with invited guests from around the world….
Doug Whyte rides five winners on the card at Scottsville, including four legs of the Pick Six; Clairwood Turf Club announces reductions in stakes for over half of its feature races for 1993. Michael Roberts becomes only the fifth rider in British history to ride 200 winners in a season. “See how they run”, a new TV magazine on racing sees the light of day.
At Turffontein, bookmakers get an unexpected bonus when the on-course Tote breaks down; described as a “top-level meeting between controllers and administrators of racing”, the Jockey Club and ARCSA co-host a gathering of JC Head Executive members and chairmen and senior racing executives of all raceclubs in South Africa; the Durban Turf Club at Greyville opens the full extent of its Member’s facilities to owners and trainers; ARCSA chairman Ken Palmer expects a contract to be signed “within 3 weeks” with the British company SIS to beam SA racing into UK betting shops every Saturday of the year; ….
Finding the words ‘excitement’ and ‘insurance’ in the same sentence is as rare as breeding a Triple Crown winner!
As the clock ticks toward this year’s renewal of South Africa’s most iconic of races, the Hollywoodbets Durban July, it is only fitting that we return to the start of the new millennium and recall all the drama and splendour
