On race day horses, jockeys, grooms, trainers and racehorse owners converge to battle it out. But there is another head-to-head simmering behind the scenes — between racehorse owners and the company that runs their industry, writes Heidi Swart in the M&G.
In the mid-1990s Jabu Moleketi, then Gauteng finance minister, began pushing for the corporatisation of horse racing in the province. At the time major turf clubs were registered as non-profit section 21 companies that belonged to their members — racehorse owners, trainers and lovers of the sport.
In 1997 Gauteng signed a memorandum of understanding with the racing industry, including representatives of the three major Gauteng turf clubs, stipulating that racing and betting in the province would in future be managed by one corporation, Phumelela Gaming and Leisure Ltd.
Following that, the Racing Association (RA) was established to represent owners and turf club members. Members of the three Gauteng turf clubs, Turffontein, Gosforth Park and Newmarket, and members of the Gauteng Racehorse Owners’ Association joined the association.
Phumelela states on its website that the “industry was in dire straits” when it took over, with most major courses failing to make a profit and public interest in decline. Until the start of corporatisation, horse racing had been the only form of legal gambling in South Africa. The site states that other forms of gambling were going to be legalised, which posed a threat to the racing industry.
The management of turf clubs in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape went to another company, Gold Circle, and each of the two companies became a holder of a totalisator licence, granted for a 10-year term to allow them to get on to their feet. However, they still have the sole right to take tote bets on races in South Africa.
to read more
http://mg.co.za/article/2012-01-27-horse-racing-at-odds-with-itself/
