A Mr John Carroll is “pissed off” at your correspondent Lance Benson for continually having a go at Gold Circle and posts his resentment of Mr Benson’s “pathetic drivel” in a letter to your publication (issue 1663 of 24 Sept.2010).
As I see the man in the street punter is the individual who keeps our troubled industry alive. Were it not for his betting contribution there would be no racing. Then there is the hard pressed Owner – he provides the wherewithal to finance the product upon which our industry exists – the horse. These two more than any of the other components of our industry, should surely be looked after with diligent care and should certainly be the prime consideration of the Racing Operators – the custodians of our industry.Right alongside Mr Carroll’s letter appears a contribution from a “Despondent Owner” bemoaning the lot of fellow Owners following the recently announced stakes reduction in the Western Cape and the inequality in the number of race meetings viz a viz those offered in Kwa-Zulu Natal. I am a small time owner and feel similarly aggrieved – or rather “pissed off” as Mr Carroll puts it.
The fare provided by the aforementioned custodians falls a long way short of my humble expectations and I dare say, of a great number of my fellow owners and a vast number of punters. There is no authorotative structure within which to voice our expectations and even if there were they would fall upon deaf ears. In a previous issue your Louw Flier refers to conditions of the stabling facilities offered by the Local Racing Operator at both Milnerton and Phillipi – and the trainers are, mind you, expected to pay rental for these shocking facilities.Ask me I have for a while had a horse in training at both these venues and can attest that they are indeed shocking – a far cry from what is provided to trainers at the likes of Summerveld, Ashburton, Randjiesfontein or the Vaal.
To get back to where I started. Who ensures the custodians of our industry do their job effectively? Lance Benson and his like, I say, and the more pressure he and his colleagues bring to bear on the Operators the better. His a lone voice and I for one take my hat off to him for sticking his neck out continuously. Mr Carroll, you are off sides – to be expected to merely sit back and meekly accept the poor standards offered by Gold Circle would be criminal. I salute you Mr Benson, champion for the cause of the Owner and the beleaguered punter – keep going my boy.
Aggrieved Owner,
M.J.Louw
