In a sad indictment of the narrow-minded and selfish free-for-all attitude that is the order of the day in certain sectors of the South African horseracing industry, our largest racing operator has refused to allow a leading bookmaker the opportunity to sponsor a race on a National Horse Trust raceday
The amounts paid over to Phumelela and Gold Circle are calculated, after the racing operators have deducted their sponsorships – so in fact the deficit for each year would have been greater without the sponsorship.
Phumelela is to replace the problematic sand track at the Vaal with a turf surface in what is strategically the first step towards the installation of a synthetic racing surface in Johannesburg.
What do owners get when their horses don’t win? Do the grooms and trainers chip in towards my losses? Don’t I already pay monthly for my horse to be trained? Should the grooms not be paid by the trainers out of the training fee?
The Fairview racemeeting carded for Friday 24 July has been moved to the polytrack in view of rain affected turf
The Vaal racecourse’s greatest event, formerly known as The Emerald Cup, is now the Supreme Cup presented by SAP
Racing at the Vaal was interrupted after the running of the fifth race today following a track inspection. Four jockeys chose to stop riding
Phumelela reluctantly acceded to the demands of the horsemen at the time, but warned that inevitably the unwashed sand would cause inconsistencies and would also result in more races being lost to rain
Phumelela concede track was over-watered. Going forward, the use of the disk plough would take place on a regular basis with the intention of keeping the sand more consistent for racing purposes
This was a gross embarrassment for South African racing. At the rate that we are going, we really can’t blame the casino’s or mobile phones or international sport – or whatever else we love to blame
Phumelela Gaming has launched an urgent investigation into the reasons for Thursday’s race meeting on the Vaal sand being abandoned after only two races
The seven-time Hong Kong Champion Jockey reached the 1814-win milestone with a double at the city circuit to edge past the long-standing mark of 1813 wins set by the legendary Douglas Whyte
A dual Grade 1 winner and South Africa’s highest rated racehorse, the Vaughan Marshall trained One Stripe will campaign in a partnership of Hollywood Racing and Rikesh Sewgoolam
A seasoned racing fan writes that in the zone between 15 and 3 minutes before the official race time, nobody is interested in listening to the personal fancies and various constructions of the presenters’ exotic permutations
A final field of 17 will face the starter at the Hollywoodbets Kenilworth 2000m marker on Saturday 25 January for the 163rd renewal of the R5 million World Sports Betting Gr1 Cape Town Met
