LANCE BENSON: One just gets the feeling that horseracing is in quite a comfort zone. It is frustrating too when we are making a fuss about events, while the organisers seem rather laid back it.
LANCE BENSON: “A false start was declared, thirteen jockeys didn’t hear it and completed the race”. The starting system needs to be reviewed as it may not be as effective in extreme conditions.
LANCE BENSON: My reservations about Africa’s richest sand race, the Gr2 Emerald Cup, being run on the 22nd day of the month, might have been allayed somewhat by the Brits, who showed that it is not the timing but the horse that swings things.
LANCE BENSON: It was quite out of the ordinary to have a Vaal Sand meeting on a Saturday, but well done to Phumelela for putting on an entertaining programme as a build-up to Africa’s richest race on sand, the Gr2 Emerald Cup.
LANCE BENSON: The talk of a proposal recently by the National Horseracing Authority to outlaw sponsorship of trainers by betting operators is surely a shortsighted view of the bigger picture?
LANCE BENSON: Do you, the man-in-the-street even know what Equus are or who they are? Do you care?
LANCE BENSON: So how did it happen that racing is on the very bones of its backside and facing an uncertain future, while a relative spectacle like soccer appears to be flourishing.
Lance Wiid has continued his good work and this Saturday he saddles WINKING JACK in the Grade 1 Mercury Sprint at Clairwood.
LANCE BENSON: The potential devastating implications for a trainer of horses being ‘got at’, particularly on the eve of major races, makes it astonishing that apparently so little attention is paid to the securing of stables. Are we sitting on a potential time-bomb?
There are some creases to be ironed out and minor scores to be settled in the Langerman on Sunday at Kenilworth
The number of entries compares favourably in quantum with recent years, with 58 first entries received in 2024, 60 in 2023, 68 in 2022, 53 in 2021, 52 in 2020, 49 in 2019, and 69 in 2018
Ironically, it was a colt which provided Alan with a first Gr1 success, this being Alec and Gillian Foster’s homebred Cereus, who landed the 2001 Gold Cup at Hollywoodbets Greyville, his victory completing a momentous double on the day, with the Gr2 Golden Slipper having gone the way of juvenile filly Tatler, a great-great-great grandaughter of Sun Lass!
JP van der Merwe is not the only guilty party in the matter. In simple terms, he is the only rider to have exercised the NHA’s offer of an Acknowledgement Of Guilt and moved on with his life
Andrew Fortune made it three winners on the Family Day public holiday as Tenango breezed home to win the Gr3 feature
