Vee Moodley
The decision by Phumelela to hold over the four races lost after Saturday’s abandoned Turffontein meeting to Sunday, should create some positivity going forward. The final four races of the Turffontein meeting that was abandoned after the fifth race on Saturday, were deferred and rescheduled into a mini meeting for Sunday.
While history now shows that the good intentions of the racing operator were ultimately stymied by the uncooperative local weather, and the Sunday meeting also had to be abandoned in the end, it is heartening to note that an innovative approach rather than a brickwall take it or leave it stance (as we are so used to!) is being adopted.
Phumelela Director Of Sports Betting, Vee Moodley, spoke to us in a telephone interview on Saturday evening:
“With Sunday being a blank day on the local calendar following the abandonment of the Clairwood meeting, it made sense to me to try and salvage the remains of the Saturday meeting. We are after all looking after our customers across the board. That is, the people that make their living out of the game, as well as the owners and the punters,” he said.
Moodley said that the tote system did not allow exotic bets to be held over, and in terms of the rules the Pick 6 and Place Accumulator paid dividends. The local jackpot was refunded, as only one leg had been run.
He then announced revised starting times and created a new jackpot for Sunday at Turffontein, with a Blitz PA piggybacking on to the Borrowdale meeting. The maxipool quartet pool intended for Clairwood, was also switched to the Turffontein ninth race on Sunday.
While the experiment remains incomplete, thanks to Mother Nature, it is good to note that was seen as a cumbersome beast, can actually be a dynamic and flexible innovator, given the circumstances.
And just to show that it is not only in Africa, where abandoned meetings can cause an outcry, Sunday’s meeting at Bath was abandoned in bizarre circumstances after sewage problems in the jockeys’ changing rooms sparked a protest from the riders. Racing went ahead as usual for the first four races but following a 20-minute delay to the 3.35 1m2f fillies’ handicap, the meeting was abandoned with four races to go.
Overnight thunderstorms were blamed by the racecourse for the drainage problems and Arena Racing Company are expected to hold an inquiry into the incident. The jockeys were outraged as to the conditions they were expected to work under, with Richard Hughes tweeting “these are the conditions Bath racecourse ask us to work in” along with the picture at the top of this story.
Hughes later said in an interview with Sky Sports News Radio: “It’s a shame we had to call racing off but we have moaned before about the weighing room being a disgrace.
“It was damp and the sewage was coming in to the weighing room. There was water dripping from the walls and ceilings and onto our clothes.
“We don’t need anything fancy and we are not asking for moons and stars, we just need something nice and clean. The food is only about 20 feet from the sewage coming out.”
Hughes added: “The lads who are on their feet all day looking after us before and after the races and changing our gear – we couldn’t ask them to be walking round in a pool of water.
“It is bad enough asked to work for skimpy prize-money but to work under those conditions as well is unacceptable. The directors of Arc certainly wouldn’t sit a room with sewage coming in there when they are working.” Kate Hills, director of PR and communications for Arc, said in a statement: “Unfortunately Bath has had to abandon due to torrential rain causing localised flooding.
“Despite efforts made by the racecourse, as the downpours occurred, drains were unable to cope with the continuous heavy rain, which affected the weighing room area. Jockeys were offered alternative facilities but after discussion with the stewards it was decided that racing had to be abandoned. We will be looking into this and we are doing everything we can to ensure this situation does not re-occur next season.”
