Milnerton trainer Joey Ramsden has never been a man to mince his words and he came out with fangs bared at Kenilworth on Tuesday.
Joey in the Easter spirit – but he’s not happy
Ramsden was interviewed by Michael Clower on www.goldcircle.co.za following the impressive debut win of his record-breaking Silvano yearling Silver Coin.
The former Cape champion trainer was thrilled with the smart victory but was not happy with officialdom. He also prescribed some medicine for his colleagues who were not coming to the party with their horses.
Ramsden wanted to know why the authorities scratched the two winners’ races this coming Saturday and replaced them with maidens – and he was in no mood to be appeased by any not-enough-runners explanation.
“It’s pathetic,” he told Clower. “We put the effort in and there is nowhere for our horses to go. We can’t get manipulated like this. They should run the races and teach them (those that scratched or didn’t enter) a lesson. They would put them in next time.”
An official of the National Racing Bureau confirmed that they were not allowed to card races with ‘only three runners’ and said that the decision on final fields and any changes in the programme lay with Phumelela.
Saturday’s Kenilworth programme has a total of 78 runners carded over the eight races.
