South Africa’s leading bookmakers Hollywoodbets have come to the aid of horseracing in KwaZulu-Natal after Gold Circle members carried a no vote, effectively blocking the release of monies ringfenced following the sale of Clairwood Racecourse in 2012.
Leading Summerveld trainer Louis Goosen lauded the Hollywoodbets move to advance an unsecured loan of R40 million to Gold Circle.
This after a Special General Meeting of the company’s Members held on the Zoom platform on Thursday blocked the release of the in excess of R200 million ring-fenced monies, protected by the company’s constitution and Memorandum Of Incorporation.
“Well done – in fact, thank God for Hollywoodbets. Their passion and investment in the sport is unparalleled and they have effectively come to the rescue of the crown jewels of South African racing. I’m just thrilled that sanity has prevailed. And we can carry on with racing and the SA Champions Season,” added Goosen.
The veteran said that he felt that the Gold Circle Board faced a difficult task and that the operator was a leader nationally in testing economic times over the past three years.
Louis Goosen
“It’s easy to throw stones. Let’s face it – if Phumelela had paid their outstandings and Covid-19 had never arrived, things would be tight – but quite different to the position we are in right now. So let’s pull together and get through this. We don’t need ego’s and conflict. We need cohesive strong leadership and a team effort. And owners have had things tough enough this year already,” he concluded.
Thursday evening’s Gold Circle Special General Meeting followed a trying seven days for the Holiday Province’s racing operator and stakeholders after a group of ‘concerned members’, led by dual Vodacom Durban July winning owner Nic Jonsson, lobbied for the Special General Meeting to be delayed to allow more time for consideration and debate.
The matter reached a climax in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Wednesday with Jonsson’s application to have the meeting stayed dismissed with costs.
In an editorial ‘Jonsson, Gold Circle agree to release of R70-million’, Turf Talk reported late on Thursday afternoon that Jonsson had reached an agreement with Gold Circle.
The agreement, brokered by a past Chairman of the company, included a provision for a five-member Interim Executive Committee (IEM) that would oversee day-to-day management of the company.
At the end of it all, the ‘R70 million agreement’ is of no consequence after a ‘no’ vote carried, with Jonsson finding himself having to switch canoes in midstream from the ‘no’ boat to the ‘yes’ boat.
In terms of the concerned members campaign, initiated via a letter that raised the ire of the Gold Circle Board, members were called upon to vote against the release of the ring-fenced capital.
On Thursday, proxies provided to the Jonsson lobby could only be withdrawn, not amended. The lobbyists thus effectively found themselves and their ‘R70 million agreement’, snookered.
The prospect of Gold Circle going into Business Rescue, which was close to a racing certainty, has been averted and questions must be raised as to whether the ironic consequences of the ‘concerned members’ action had been properly considered by the parties involved.
Jonsson, pictured above, who faces a substantial legal bill, conceded, with some irony, in the Turf Talk article that without cash there was a strong chance that Gold Circle would have had to be placed in business rescue.
“This would have had an extremely negative effect on the company and stakeholders in the racing industry in this province. Being in business rescue will considerably weaken Gold Circle’s negotiating position with regard to any new strategic initiatives, structures or partnerships that it seeks to establish,” he was quoted as saying.
The reality is that Gold Circle’s cash was reportedly weeks away from drying up and the SA Champions Season, including Africa’s Greatest Horserace, the Vodacom Durban July, was in serious danger of being decimated.
- Pics – Candiese Lenferna
