The great South African horseracing sectional timing yawn took another swerve and stumble on Thursday with the rather caustically casual publishing of a change to the National Operator’s Conditions by the National Racing Bureau.
The public and stakeholder debate generated by the inebriated snail introduction of Sectional Timing over the past three years has once again been casually disregarded by our forever fumbling racing gods, who appear to know no limits when it comes to digging a deeper grave for the industry as the weeks pass.
In a notice to trainers in Phumelela Regions published by the National Racing Bureau, the attention is drawn to changes which will be effective on Monday 4 June.
Section 13.1 says that any horse or rider that has been declared entered to run in a race shall be equipped with a section timing device as determined by the Operator.
Section 13.2 says that it shall be an offence prosecutable in terms of the rules of the NHA, for any person to remove, tamper or interfere in any form or manner with any ST equipment.
Section 13.3 says that any horse which fails to carry a sectional timing device as contemplated in 13.1 shall be withdrawn from such race.
While the Mayfair Speculators unbundling shook the world for our racing and breeding industry in December on a scale not seen in our lifetimes, Sectional Timing surely carries the highest merit rating for the top division bungle of this century – on all fronts.
The most frightening aspect of it all is that despite the apparent lack of market research – or proven need for the facility – no known tangible market acceptance, zero public relations and serious questions around how and why it was purportedly a planned pregnancy in the first place, the gods march on relentlessly to implement a change in operator conditions. It’s called compound interest – racing style.
This latest move appears to be nothing more than a blatant and ill-considered attempt to further mask another embarassing fail on the watch of a one-hit wonder leadership riddled with more question marks than our past President.
This rule change is also effectively a pointing of the gun to trainer’s heads – those same trainers who, without financial motive or any agenda, resisted and expressed concerns about the suitability of the equipment in the first place. They have not been consulted and yet from next week are expected to accept the status quo.
The suppliers of the system and equipment, a company naturally without any past record in this domain, called Equimotion Technologies, who go by the slogan, ‘where timing is everything’, have also been shrouded in mystery.
They told the Sporting Post in January this year that February would be the launch month at all six Phumelela racecourses.
When a senior racing executive says he knows absolutely nothing about it a month after the intended – and unfulfilled – launch date of the concept, then we have to wonder why the curtains are drawn in the halls of power.
No press releases and no public information equals zero transparency!
This story can’t end here!
