A brand new trainer who reported the behaviour of his only owner to the National Horseracing Authority out of concern for possible contraventions of regulations, the welfare of his horses, and his own reputation, has found himself without a licence and on the receiving end of negative publicity that threatens to ruin his dream of running his own yard.
Excited at the prospect of a new challenge and the chance of realising his ambition to become a fully- fledged trainer, the 39 year old Transkei-born Lunga Gila packed up his assistant trainer post in Gqeberha a few months ago, and moved to Gauteng where he was allocated boxes.
Lunga Gila – shocking first experience
Gila came with positive references from a host of respected trainers, and while there were questions asked as to how he managed to apparently ‘jump the prospective tenants queue’ as it were, on a waiting list for boxes at Randjesfontein, he was granted a licence early in November and launched his new yard for the owner.
But on Friday the writing was firmly on the wall, when the National Horseracing Authority reported that they had imposed an interim suspension on horses in the name of the owner, and that were under the care of Gila until 30 November 2022.
This owner has had horses at various top yards over an extended period of time.
The investigation now under way relates to alleged irregularities pertaining to the training and veterinary treatment of the horses. The release states that Gila has relinquished his Trainer’s Licence, a fact that the disappointed horseman vehemently denies and says is simply not correct.
The wording of the release basically paints Gila at best as involved in the wrongdoing, and as a co-perpetrator.
A senior trainer, for whom he had previously worked, as well as other sources at Randjesfontein, had informed the Sporting Post on Monday already that all was not well, and that the owner-trainer relationship appeared effectively dysfunctional, and that the situation was an ‘accident waiting to happen’.
An exasperated Lunga told the Sporting Post that he was originally so excited to be given horses to train by a man who owned many.
“But unfortunately I was never allowed to be the trainer. The investigation will reveal the truth, but I can record that this owner clearly has aspirations of being a trainer, and even a jockey. My licence made me the person responsible for what happens to the horses and logistics in my yard. But I was in an impossible situation as this owner would not allow me to be the trainer, and told me that he had money and would continue as he chose. He decided on training, medication – and even hired and fired staff! The final straw was a serious legal infringement in terms of my personal signature, which will come out in the NHA investigation. I want to assure the public that I am devastated by the outcome and that none of the horses are malnourished or have been maltreated. I want to clear my name and have done nothing wrong!”
The Sporting Post is endeavouring to reach the owner for comment and to ascertain from the racing regulator as to whether the trainer’s licence being relinquished is in fact accurate, and whether the media release published earlier accurately reflected the position.
