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
History shows that three-year-olds have it all to do in this prestigious mile race, given that there have been only ten sophomore winners since its inception in 1861, two of which in the new millennium
Christmas day in a racing stable is largely business as usual. Horses have to be fed, watered and exercised
