“They are killing the game we love.” The emotional response from a well known local punter who rang our offices today following the abandonment of the Vaal racemeeting after the second race, summed up a general sentiment of outrage and disgust from racing enthusiasts and owners on a level unseen previously. Or have we heard this all before?
The Sporting Post emailed Phumelela Executives, the National Horseracing Authority and the Racing Association in mid afternoon requesting comment on the events at the Vaal.
Given the embarrassing repeat nature of the debacle, it is hardly surprising that nobody was saying anything and no direct responses were received. Even the eloquent, soon to be pensioned, Mac Maharaj would have battled to waffle his way through this one.
In a show of progress, however, a Phumelela press release issued just after 15h30 indicated that an urgent investigation had been launched by the racing operator.
Read the Phumelela response.
This follows an, as yet, unconcluded enquiry opened by the National Horseracing Authority after the first race of the scheduled sand meeting of 12 February 2015 at the same venue, which was switched to turf.
One wonders how much forensic evidence needs to be presented and expert witnesses need to be called to conduct an enquiry of this nature? Surely everybody and all the exhibits involved are less than an hour or two away from Joburg?
A leading senior jockey whom we contacted this afternoon for a comment advised us that the matter was ‘sub judice’ and that an enquiry was scheduled for early Friday morning.We would not have wanted to undermine the process and respected that he preferred to reserve his comment.
Did he say Friday morning? The turnaround and expediency is another positive step!
RA CEO Larry Wainstein – he is the one man that could turn things
We hope that all stakeholders will have a say in the proceedings. The Racing Association particularly needs to curtail the barking and start biting.
The word is out that Larry Wainstein is livid.So there is hope!
And if heads need to roll, then so be it. In fact, beyond talk, that is surely the only action that is going to placate the people affected. Other than shutting the Vaal down and building a decent polytrack at Turffontein?
Because, at the rate that we are going, we can’t blame the casino’s or mobile phones or international sport, or whatever else we love to blame anymore.
A poster under the pseudonym Bignic, writing on the www.africanbettingclan.com, and who apparently had a runner in the third race, was unsurprisingly not happy:
I had a horse that was supposed to run in the 3rd today. She has been a few days short of 5 months off the track and I spent over R12000 in vet fees on her. The racing gets cancelled because of incapable people running racing. They can take my colours away, I don’t care but they are incapable. Why wasn’t the track inspected before the meeting so that all the races could be moved to turf?
It was not the jockeys .The track was not raceable and Dr Wheeler (Vet) just did what he is supposed to do protect the animals. Earlier this year I had 5 runners in Kimberley when the irrigation system leaked. Again we as owners had to cough up. I will sit back and carefully consider my further participation in this great game run by monkeys.
Piere Strydom – warned ages ago about the Vaal
A longstanding punter and former owner, Rob Faux, wrote on the same forum:
With all the warning they have had, the blame lies squarely with those who should be managing the track manager. But perhaps it should be finally accepted that “P” is a 3 ring circus ,managed by clowns!How much evidence is needed?
Champion jockey Piere Strydom spoke openly and warned us a year ago that the Vaal was a timebomb.
Read Vaal Is World’s Worst, published in June 2014.
What do you think?
