We all stand together? (pic: hamishNIVENPhotography)
For anything to be done properly, it has to have integrity and for it to have integrity, it has to have meaning and to be based on something. Having a measurable outcome means you’ve dared greatly. You’ve been exposed greatly. You’ve been compared to an audience of your peers and been judged (by a predetermined set of criteria) to be superior.
First off, I know this will make absolutely no impression on anybody, but I’ll say it anyway, right at the start, where I should have more than an outside chance of it being read and (hopefully) assimilated: I think hosting a jockey international (or invitational, or whatever the correct term may be) is a good, fun idea. However, like any good idea, if it’s not executed properly, it remains exactly that – a good idea. If it isn’t, well, then what is it exactly? Just a superficial bit of posturing and an excuse for a bit of a jolly. Now, I’m in favour of a good jolly as much as the next guy, but let’s call things by their real names then and stop pretending to be something we’re not (or in this year’s case, vice versa).
A rose by any other name
The reason I have largely lost interest in the jockey event is that it isn’t done properly and with integrity and frankly, life’s too short. Either it’s a proper jolly – and in that case all well and good – or it is a proper competition, in which case it has to be taken seriously and run by something approximating rules, but in my experience half assed competitions don’t really ever work, because frankly, you’re really fooling no one and the end result, I’d wager to say, is meaningless (anyone remember the result from 2011? No, me neither).
With us having recently had the Rugby World Cup, a rugby team is probably the easiest parallel – particularly as there was a fair amount of lively discussion around who did and didn’t make the SA team this time round and the reasons behind it. The point is that every single person who made the team had done some sort of work or made some sort of effort and excelled in some sort of way in order to get there. And incidentally – or perhaps not – they had to play and qualify according to a prescribed set of rules in order to do so. The reason for this is that it is system designed so that only the best can qualify. In other words, it’s SUPPOSED to be difficult. If it wasn’t difficult, and you didn’t have to prove that you were better than anyone else, what would be the point of getting to the top? It’s a privilege to be at the top of your game and with it comes the privilege of being able to compete against other people who are at the top of theirs. It’s what sets a Springbok player apart from being a Stormers player. It’s what makes good sport so thoroughly watchable and entertaining and what makes sponsors pay small fortunes to have their logos and branding carried by our top sports men and women.
So to be quite honest, the very idea of having a so-called National Team which has wild cards included (no matter how noble and commendable the idea behind it), takes away the very real accolade it should be to the folks who have earned it. If there has to be a nod to additional or special case riders, why not rather have the (rather excellent) idea of giving our apprentices a chance to ride against the visitors as we did a few years ago?
The whole idea behind receiving National Colours is that fact that one receives them on MERIT. Merit does not get decided on a ‘wild card’ system. It is either earned, or it is not, and if we are awarding team placements to wild cards, well then we may as well just run it on a lottery system, mightn’t we?
The million dollar question
International? Invitational? Or just semantics?
Is it an international, or isn’t it? Having staged this event for 7 years, and on each occasion going to some lengths to ensure that the SA jockeys at least are awarded national colours (the visitors are clearly selected entirely at random and according to the whims of popularity and availability rather than the constraints of anything as silly as having to qualify on merit), but for some reason, the organisers capriciously decided to forego that particular element this year. Mind you, one could be forgiven for not noticing as all the promotional literature referred to the event as an ‘international’.
Also, considering the fact that previous years’ events were marred by the fact that racing did not have an official body properly affiliated to the SAEF (our chosen governing body) and thereby to SASCOC, it seems odd that having finally got an official body (the Jockey Association of South Africa / JASA) properly registered and affiliated to the SAEF and therefore able to apply for official colours for the first time in years, the organisers chose to ignore it and go their own, entirely random way. And if there was no intention to make it look like the ‘international’ event of years gone by, then why be so careless with the naming convention and what was with all the country flags and national anthems?
Muddying the waters
RA CEO Larry Wainstein
According to a statement by Mr Wainstein late last week, he said “The RA did not apply for national colours. The team selection was based on the top four jockeys on the national log plus two wild card jockeys. The only basic requirement for participation is that they are licensed by the National Horseracing Authority and in good standing.”
Firstly, the RA is not in a position to apply for national colours as it has no standing with the SAEF and therefore with SASCOC, so the statement is irrelevant. Also, if Mr Wainstein’s statement is to be taken at face value and we are throwing out any pretence of a national team, then any and all jockeys qualify for the event. Why then base the selection on the NATIONAL log? Also, if the whole show has got nothing to do with representing the country, then – and I apologise for repeating myself – why the need for the national flags, nationals anthems, etc?
More than meets the eye
There is clearly more than meets the eye here and I have no knowledge of the history between the two warring parties, so would not like to speculate. However, if the wording WAS careless and the event WAS intended as an invitational, then the organisers were well within their rights to have any jockey, from any position on the log, from any province and indeed from any jockeys’ association on their team. On the other hand, should racing at some point in the future, take it into its head to apply for national colours for our jockeys again, as matters stand, the only ones eligible are members of the Jockeys’ Association of South Africa. This also presents a dilemma as reports indicate that JASA may not be nationally representative in terms of numbers.
Setting aside those imponderables for now, let’s move on to Mr Wainstein’s statement of last week, which stated that “Tex Lerena … has been threatened with legal action and consideration will be given to reporting him to the National Horseracing Authority for allegedly bringing the sport into disrepute.” Not even a veiled threat, an actual threat, confirmed in writing, by the organisers. Ahead of an event which hosts jockeys from all over the world. I don’t think I have an appropriate response to that.
Fiddling while Rome burns
S’manga Khumalo (pic: hamish NIVENPhotography)
Let’s not forget our coup de grace. With an unusually large and diverse set of eyes on us for the final, we manage the blunder de jour of leaving last season’s champion jockey lying out on the track after a nasty looking fall while the vet drove to the start to go and summon the ambulance. How did that happen? Considering that the injury was unknown at that stage, time could have been of the essence. Why not save precious time and simply radio or phone the driver?
Perceptions are everything and I received several calls from distressed members of the public on Saturday afternoon, extremely upset about the amount of time it was taking to get S’manga attended to. Even the on course commentator was forced to comment. We have tried to ascertain the facts of the matter from the NHA and were told that an enquiry has been launched.
WTF guys? (and that’s a TLA before anyone wants to slap me with a R5k fine). It’s 2015. Health and safety are HUGE issues. In fact, given how dangerous horse riding is in general, horse and rider safety should be our number one issue, particularly on race days. We have a duty of care to our riders and our horses. If you can’t hold a Pony Club event without a proper paramedic, then surely racing should be required to do quite a bit more? While it’s great that we engaged some headline grabbing riders, imagine the headlines if it had been Hayley Turner lying in a crumpled heap on the Turffontein turf on Saturday afternoon.
Planning
Lady Diana
I may have cited this example before, but the reason Lady Diana’s funeral was arranged so quickly was that the UK had been preparing for the Queen Mother’s passing, so all the infrastructure was in place and when Lady Diana had her accident, it was a matter of simply substituting one head of state for another. One hopes for the best case scenario, but you plan for the worst.
Unfortunately good management starts from the bottom up, not the top down and we appear to have too many people at the top who think they know what needs doing and too few people at the bottom who actually know what needs doing and getting on with it.
So South Africa won the 2015 Jockey International. Considering how it aired our dirty laundry and laid bare our shortcomings for the world to see, the question is, at the end of the day, was it a victory at all?
