Joey Ramsden
I have just received the most startling letter from the head of the NHA, regarding satellite stables and the stud book. They seem to think this is a matter between myself and various other parties, writes Joey Ramsden on his blog, www.joeyramsden.com
Email from J Ramsden To Rob De Kock – 15 January
Dear Sirs/Madam
Whilst I have been fighting for equality with my satellite yard in Natal, the extremely relevant point regarding restrictions came up in conversation. The relevant point is that restrictions obviously cast a severe shadow on the South African Stud Book, the equivalent of the Equine Bible, regarding results, ability, who and what they raced against and what they won.
If horses are winning races in which they are restricted to Natal horses only, surely this can have no bearing on the South African stud book whatsoever. This obviously goes through to them also restricting races involving handicaps where they are telling us we also cannot compete in handicaps up to a certain level.
Surely this must have a massive bearing on your stud book and the subsequent sales prices of certain horses. Surely all horses must be competing against the best possible competition to gain entry into this publication. If Natal is allowed to carry on with these restrictions, this surely cannot be the case; they are neither competing on equal terms in Handicaps nor in Maidens.
This cannot be allowed to continue. Surely a horse which has taken on all comers and one which has raced in restricted company cannot be judged as equals. The bastardising of the South African stud book, which surely must be thought of as sacrosanct, is about to take place with some very dire consequences. I ask you to look into this as a matter of urgency as I am sure it is the start of one long, slippery slope and cannot be allowed to continue.
– Joey Ramsden
Reply From Rob De Kock – 20 March
Dear Mr Ramsden
I confirm that your e-mail of 15 January 2013 was tabled and discussed at a recent meeting of the National Board of The National Horseracing Authority.
The Board was aware of the Gold Circle decision to restrict satellite yards, in terms of its stabling policy to a maximum of 20 stables and that no maidens nor horses with a merit rating of less than 76 would be allowed in the yards.
The Board was of the opinion that the policy only restricted poorer quality horses and was unlikely to comprise the integrity of the Stud Book. The Board did however have sympathy with the Trainers who were affected by this decision and hoped that the matter could be amicably resolved by Gold Circle and the Trainers concerned.
– Rob de Kock, Chief Executive NHA
Reply To Rob De Kock By J Ramsden On 3 April
Dear Mr de Kock
Many thanks for your belated letter dated 20 March 2013. I have been away so have been unable to respond until now. I am going to try and reply in the politest form possible. I am fully aware that you get a large portion of your funding from Kwazulu-Natal and Phumelela, enabling you to operate your business of running and policing horse racing in South Africa.
Sadly, the response I got was to be expected. It has nothing to do with satellite yards and moderate horses. It has to do with free and fair competition. I feel rather stupid pointing this out to you but am doing so as you seem to have entirely missed the point. The Stud Book, I am led to believe, is supposed to be a fair reflection of what and where horses have won, without prejudice; that is, up until now.
Are you suddenly going to put a new chapter in it explaining that this is no longer the case and racing is now run on a “come and do as you please” basis, depending on which or what operator gives you your funding? Sadly, this appears to be the case. It is not about whether this can be amicably resolved between both parties; it is about whether the ruling body, yourselves, takes a stand. Obviously this does not appear to be the case so I wonder why a) you bother to compile and keep a stud book and b) think that you are going to continue enforcing the rules of racing if you let operators do what they please and not what is free and fair, which I believe is engrained in our constitution. I find it laughable that you do not think that if a large portion of races are going to be restricted, it is not going to affect the integrity of the Stud Book. It is quite ridiculous, in fact. Having got to know you reasonably well over the years, I am fully aware that you are no fool so to read these foolish comments comes as a surprise.
To be honest, I could not care less about racing in Natal and probably will ultimately withdraw my operation from there. Sadly, they cannot fill fields or appear to run a decent, fair and reasonable business in which case I want very little to do with them.
Ultimately racing there will join up with Phumelela when they run out of their large windfall, leaving only one operator. By then I am sure you will be long gone and will probably not care what happens to the NHA.
Once again, I am extremely disappointed with what can be best described as a complete cop out from you, an organisation whose mission is to maintain the integrity of the sport of horse racing. If selecting runners and discarding others on a whim is described as integrity, then I will have to say I was most disappointed to see that I was not elected the next Pope, despite not being Catholic.
I hope one day you review your cop out and take a real stand and become the organisation or body you once were. At the end of the day, this has nothing to do with me. It is about what is right and what is wrong for horse racing in South Africa. Any neutral person does not need to be a genius to see both your policy of sticking your head in the sand and Gold Cirlcle’s exclusion policy is wrong, whichever way you wish to look at it.
– Joey Ramsden
