Bravura’s Winter Campaign

Bravura left for Durban on Monday and has travelled extremely well. His main objective is still the Vodacom Durban July. After winning the Investec Cape Derby he was sent away for a short break. He came back in after two weeks in extremely fine fettle. Three weeks into his preparation for the Durban season he suffered a setback which cost him close to three weeks of work, causing us to re-think his preparation for the Natal winter season. It goes without saying that if the Vodacom Durban July had been run in its traditional time slot, Bravura’s Durban campaign would’ve been cancelled. But as it stands at present, to have him fit, well, and ready for this event is entirely feasible. With the amount of time on our hands. Obviously any setbacks that occur between now and the 31st of July would put his participation in question. We are hoping to get two prep runs in before the 31st of July, those as of yet haven’t been finalised yet. The picture will become clearer in six weeks time where we will then issue another statement. I felt the need to issue this current statement due to the Ante-post betting market and the extreme earliness of the current July entry system.
via email - Good Hope Racing – Joey Ramsden
18May

The Friendly City
We would like to thank New Turf Carriers, the Sham family and East Cape Racing for a very well organized and a fantastic Derby Weekend.
Over the years this week end is becoming more and more popular and is an event well worth attending.
Congratulations on your efforts to raise so much towards the Horse Care Unit, Animal Welfare and Nazareth House.
Many thanks to Nicky Bartlett, Ian and Nina Robertson, Hedley McGrath and Yvette Bremner, Jan and Kate Peskins and Ashley and Bev Parker for opening their homes and great hospitality.
After spending such a good weekend, we realize why PE is called the ‘friendly city’.
Congratulations again and many thanks to all – see you next year
Via email - David and Sandy Hepburn-Brown and Marsh Shirtliff.
18May

East Cape Derby Weekend - A Big Thanks

This last weekend was the 4th running of The New Turf Carriers East Cape Derby as well as the SA Gold Coin Exchange Dahlia Plate. We were priveledged to have the support of many sponsors and buyers at our Charity Auction. Grateful thanks AGAIN to Len Sham, Ashley, Rose and Bev Parker, John and Lana Anne Koster and Grant Knowles, Jan and Kate Peskens,Ian Levitan,Nicky Bartlett, Barbara Sanne, David and Sandy Hepburn-Brown and Marsh Shirtliff, Veronica Foulkes, George Uren, Anthony Kay, Divi and Christa de Villiers,Terry and Annabel Andrews, Charlie And Katherine Koster, Yvette Bremner and Hedley Mc Grath, Duncan and Natasha Barry, Rennie and Alison Price for their very generous race sponsorships, and Nicola and Marc Coppez for the sponsorship of the grooms prizes.
The RA very kindly sponsored the Charity Evening (night/early morning). Janet Badenhorst worked more than "overtime" for the cause! Larry Wainstein donated 2 wonderful items for Auction. Rob Penrose supported The Donkey Competition . We raised in excess of R120 000.00 for our nominated charities of Nazareth House and The East Cape Horse Care Unit/ PE Animal Welfare. Thanks to all the wonderful, generous people who bid and bought items for charity as well as the superb Wine auctioned for the Robertson Logos Christian School.
Thanks also to Luciano Passerini, Karin le Roux, Kleintjie, Donald and all Phumelela staff for the hard work on Fairview and Arlington. Both venues looked GREAT!!!! Megan Hope and Sharon Plumb who worked tirelessly for their respective causes. Personal thanks to China and Dr. Charles Hayward for their compassionate handling on our loss of Adamy.
Our congratulations to Snaith Racing and Mr.and Mrs. Foster for the Derby winner Robert the Bruce. Once again The Weather played its part and we had a really great weekend. Looking forward to 2011
via email – Mark, Dorrie, Michael, Shannon, Matthew, Alex and Marcus
11May

Tellytracks loss, Not Julie's

Most of us in racing are in the game for the pure love of it. Its in our
blood. My parents have been involved in breeding and owning of racehorses for
almost 40 years, and I have been an avid racegoer since I was a young teen.
The pure emotion, adrenalin and beauty associated with the Sport of Kings, has
kept me coming back for more and more.
Some 20 years on, I remain drawn to the sport. There simply is nothing to
compare to having a winner and everyone in racing will agree about the emotion
it stirs within even the coldest of people.
Upon learning of Julie Alexander's experience with Tellytrack after showing
'too much emotion', I am absolutely disgusted with the accusation. Julie's
subsequent, but completely understandable resignation, is a huge loss for the
racing industry. Her enthusiam, love for the game and insight will be missed.
A real shame our racing will no longer be such a viewing pleasure.
Furthermore, we are always trying to encourage young blood to participate in
the game, and we always drive new owners to the sport through the emotion and
excitement it brings to racegoers. How are we supporting these beliefs by
'letting' Julie off the air?
Guess we will have to shout our horses home quietly now. We would'nt want to
upset anyone.
Claire McKay - via email
11May

Telly Track’s Influence on Racing
I am tired to witness week after week that an odds on horse does not finish in the first three.
Again on Wednesday the 17th March, Charles Laird/ Anton Markus Flying Princess Greyville 4th race 4/10 finishes 4th.
Thousands of people have backed Flying Princess - win/place/exacta/trifecta/Place Accumulator/ Pick 6/Jackpot. Thousands of Rands have been lost.
What do the Phumelela presenters via Telly Track do?
They interview the winning horse’s (Arewehavingfunyet, Sean Tarry, Anthony Delpech) jockey and trainer and heap praise on them.
The reason that horse is in the winners box is because of the poor running of Flying Princess.
By all means interview the winners trainer and jockey and praise them but then interview Flying Princess’ trainer and jockey as well and ask them about the poor performance.Remember the trainer gives the jockey instructions. If the jockey does not follow these he should not get a ride next time.
What instructions did Mr Laird give Anton Markus?
I will guarantee you that you do this a few times and you will see a drastic reduction in the odds on favourite not finishing in the first three. You will become a friends of thousands of punters, who pay Phumelela’s staff salaries and are Phumelela’s main source of income.
Phumelela/Telly Track is an extremely influential organisation and if one watches the current happenings, one could come to the conclusion that Phumelela is supporting the happenings.
Many people say: horse racing - oh that crooked game. Sport of Kings - yes, for crooked kings. I implore Phumelela/Telly Track to make an effort to try and clean up the image of horse racing. Interview the odds on Jockey and Trainer as well, when the horse does not finish in the first three.
Via email - Manfred
23 March

Yearling Names
Why do breeders deny buyers the right to name the horses they buy?
At the recent Equimark sales I purchased a horse for one of my top clients that was catalogued as “unnamed”. The client was happy because he likes to name his own horses and considers it unlucky to change a name given by a breeder.
A few days later I got a call from an agitated buyer to say that he discovered to his horror that this previously unnamed yearling was actually registered at the National Horse Racing Authority (albeit it too late for the catalogue) with an unpronounceable collection of words as a most inappropriate name. He is no longer that keen on his new acquisition.
When will breeders learn to give the pleasure of the naming of yearlings to the buyer? He has to live with the horse for the rest of it’s productive life and should not have to love with someone else’s idea of what the horse should be called. Breeders in the rest of the world allow buyers this right – why not here?
Some years ago our late friend Laurie Jaffee ran a campaign against breeders naming their yearlings and it seemed that breeders took note – now that he is gone and they are no longer concerned about whether or not he will look at their yearlings on sale they seem to have reverted to naming their horses again and I have been asked to make this point.
I would appreciate it if you would give breeders a small reminder of how many owners feel about this very important matter.
via email - John Freeman
23 March

Sailing On The HMS Racing

I have a feeling in my 'waters' that racing is due for some hefty changes. The notion that that the population of punters and owners will follow blindly like sheep has been tested with questions coming from all quarters. The opportunity to to use diversionary tactics to still the critics is gone. They see through the mess and no amount of spin(or in some cases silence) can hide the facts any longer. Pressure groups can save the industry. As in politics a strong united opposition is worth more to a country than one where the leaders criminalise opposition and imprison(exclude) dissidents from debate. I have always believed that almost everyone has something valid to contribute but the way the msg is conveyed can lessen the impact and destroy a good idea.
Racing no longer has a need for 19th century principles of 'Prince and Pauper' in fact we need more pauper and less prince if we are to survive. Racing in South Africa should be attempting to become a Pick n Pay type of business not an exclusive deli situated in Sandton with one branch hoping for the once a week sale of a large ticket item to survive. The answer is more players not less - It is the rise of the 'Super owner' in the small pond that has led to influential decisions that has harmed the game. Your ownership strategy (syndication) is the type of vehicle needed to save racing by introducing new members to the sport.
Alas the aloof governing from the clouds and condescending and self serving stance taken by many of the elected officials is the cause of many a problem in the industry. The unwillingness to embrace change and the 'Let them eat cake' mentality has proven to be a miracle cure for the thousands of punters/owners/trainers etc that have suffered from 'cataracts' for years. They are no longer blinded by slick words(mostly not so slick) and weak marketing ploys that undermine basic logic. Sensible, rational 'racing' people need to save this industry yet it seems determined to continue to attempt to save the ship by using tank drivers instead of sea-dogs as crew members with captains that are so far removed from the action that they may as well steer the rudder from mars. A silent fiscal exodus has occurred over the last few decades and will continue until the kings are left to play cribbage alone with little or no subjects to cheer them on if we allow them to continue in their wanton fashion. There is no revolt in racing but rather a more dangerous wind blowing - 'the packing for Perth' scenario. Players from all stations are leaving on the poker or sports trains and finding better value and satisfaction from theses venues. Can this be stopped? No doubt as the horse and rider represent an ancient will to compete that will not die. The ability to foster and grow this instinct will save this game but the correct 'rule-makers' need to take office as the present 'overlords' have proven that their interests are based purely on their own selfish and misinformed ambitions.
Steve Blunden (originally penned on Racingweb by myself under the name of Mr Hawaii)
23 Feb

Racing South Africa Apology
In the J&B Met issue (#1595) of the Sporting Post headed: “South Africa’s first direct horse export to Singapore”, the Equine Research Centre was omitted from the list of those organizations Racing South Africa wished to acknowledge. Racing South Africa wishes to apologize for the error.
2 Feb

The Met Buzz
Jetting into Cape Town International, we were greeted by a bevy of girls skimpily dressed in eye catching colours, handing out racecards and newspapers for the J&B Met. The lamposts from the airport were lined with banners promoting the race and the buzz was pretty electrifying. We had no idea what to expect but from landing it was a first class show all the way. And us Aussies thought we knew how to stage a racing event.
via email - Andrew Watson
Comment: Hope we'll see you at our next big race meeting and glad that the "Hollywood Girls" from www.hollywoodbets.net made your pulse race and gave you a warm South African welcome
2 Feb

My First Book

My first book ‘A Lion In The Bedroom’ has been an international best seller and a film is now being made of it. I am now writing a new book about my life in south africa, i.e. building up Broadlands Stud Farm into a famous stud and training racehorses for my mother and husband Frank O’ Niell.

I was given to understand at the time I was one off a world record of runners to winners. I was brought up with some of the greatest horses racehorses as my stepfather Furness, was the original owner of Gilltown Stud and Sandley House in England. I could ride before i could walk, rode my first steeplechase at the age of 6. My father General Cavendish was a cavalty officer, so received cavalry training until the age of 12. Cavendish Square in Cape town was named after his brother, Harry Cavendish Lord Waterpark a famous explorer.
To learn to train, i decided to go to Tommy Smith, in Australia and also study racing hematology from the famous veterinary surgeon Percy Sykes. He was the first person in the world at that time to make the big break through into the complete reading of blood counts for racehorses. It was amazing science, it told you everything. That was why i was able to have such an amazing success, also thanks to Tommy Smith and my beautiful Australian fillies.
Then the best thing i ever did was to bring in some great stallions. Having been making a study for my new book, I realized what an incredible impact Royal Preogative and Averof have had on South African breeding. This year alone these famous racehorses are their descendants.
A Big City Life. Forest Path. Lady Windemere. Sparkling Gem and last but not least Rebel King. Also the tragic demise of Victory Moon, another descendant who might have produced some more famous runners, from this sire line.
I have to mention, a few years ago a filly Crimson Palace by Ellidor out of my filly the Perfect Guess by Averof breed by Mr. Joubert, won Gr1 South Africa. A Gr1 Dubai. Gr2 England and a Gr1 the States, quite an achievement. Also years ago when i was training, Brain Baker, said to me, he was amazed at how sound all my horses were. This i have to credit Tommy Smith for the wonderful training track he designed for me, on his many visits to Broadlands, and Percy Sykes maxim, Never sprint a two year old on the grass or race it until the epiphyses have closed. And another descendant 'Warm White Night' of Averof won the Cape Flying Championship Gr1 on Saturday the 23th January 2010.
26 Jan

J & B MET : BENEFIT RACE FOR POCKET POWER AT THE WEIGHTS?

Looking at the weights for this race I am astounded that a horse like POCKET POWER, who has a merit rating of 119 and is an 18 time winner who has amassed a staggering R9milllion carries 58kg while a horse like THUNDERING JET who is only a 4 time winner with a merit rating of 101 and has amassed stakes of only R600,OOO is set to carry 56kg? Likewise LIONS BLOOD who has a merit rating of 98 and has amassed about R780,000 in stakes carries the same 56kg.What kind of Conditions race is this and what is the hype about POCKET POWER winning for the 4th time when really it becomes a benefit race for him.Likewise the 4 QUEENS PLATE wins at WFA conditions also were thrown in at weights victories.Yet the same POCKET POWER carried 58kgs in the VODACOM JULY HANDICAP and THUNDERING JET carried 51kgs but THUNDERING JET the 4 time winner beat POCKET POWER by a head despite being out at the weights as he raced off amerit rating of 100 and POCKET POWER a rating of 121.He should have been in receipt of 10.50 kgs from POCKET POWER yet was only receiving 7kgs.But no chance of that here with these ridiculous conditions.

In summarising then, I can only conclude that that this race is similar to the FA CUP and CARLING CUP competitions where teams from lower divisions have to beat PREMIER LEAGUE teams on level terms in order to have any chance of success on the road to WEMBLEY.POCKET POWER has had his nose bloodied by one IVORY TRAIL whom he met on favourable terms and one can only hope that the race is on for second only because if he fluffs his lines, there should be no excuses under these 'benefit' conditions.

Editor comments:

The conditions for the J&B are shown below.
For all Horses aged 3-years or more
BASIC WEIGHTS
Three-year-olds . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,0 kg
Four-year-olds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55,5 kg
Five year olds and older . . . . . . 56,0 kg
Fillies and Mares granted 2,5 kg subject to a minimum of 50kg.
Northern Hemisphere four-year-olds granted 1kg allowance.
Apprentice Allowance may NOT be claimed.
Qualifying ride by an Apprentice is NOT permitted.
PENALTIES (General conditions and allowances)
(a) Winners of Grade/Group 1 races will incur a 2,0 kg penalty
(b) Acurrent three-year-old that is a winner of a Grade/Group 1 race restricted to three-year-olds only will incur a 1,0 kg penalty
(c) Winners of Grade/Group 1 races restricted to two-year-olds only will NOT incur a penalty
(d) Only Grade/Group 1 Races as listed in Part 1 of the International Cataloguing Standards Blue
Book will be recognized as such
(e) Penalties are NOT cumulative
(f) Penalties will only be incurred for races won after 1 August 2007
26 Jan

Head over Heels

Had the whole family in PE for Christmas, including son working and living abroad -doesn't evrybody have one these days! Instead of lying around the house swilling booze, eating turkey and ham, I mentally decided on a proactive holiday with venues and activities to be done and enjoyed.
To everybody's surprise on Tuesday 22nd December, I casually mentioned at breakfast that I was going to Arlington races. I got an immediate response from son-in-law and after much pondering from son.The ulterior motive was of course that the females would have a day together. We pitched up about 15 minutes before the first race with all the paperwork and the neccesary bucks after visiting the plastic 'hole in the wall'. We meandered through to the Stand and joined the 'crowd' and started to sit down and study form. To be honest we were beginning to thouroughly enjoy ourselves and each other's company.
Just before the third race events took a sudden distinctive turn for the worse. We were sitting on the pale blue seats,which are in sets of 3 and bolted into the stepped rows provided. Maybe because of the turkey and ham the combined weight of my son-in-law, Desmond and myself, the whole 3 tier bank decided to collapse forward with the restraining bolts flying out of the concrete. Net result was that we were tumbling down, fortunately, only half a dozen remaining steps winding up against the concrete rails of the Parade Ring.
I looked up and saw a vision, actually it was the girl pointing the camera at McCurdy, waffling away. My son-in-law didn't carry as far as me as he stuck his feet out which resulted in jarring his knees. They are buggered anyway due to years of Off Road racing.I have only got a bit of a stiff neck which I suppose will work away eventually.
We made the best of it, acknowledged the cheers from the 'crowd'and moved ourselves tentatively to a new bank of seats. Son, Robert, was clever, up at the Tote putting on another losing bet. We carried on for the rest of the meeting, tentatively sitting on another bank of seats,with the broken bank lying in a heap at the bottom of the steps. Reaction from Management and Staff at Arlington. Zilch! Nix! Nothing!
via email - John S.Baker, Port Elizabeth
5 Jan

Training Track Saga

Phumelela’s Racing Executive Patrick Davis chose to respond to trainer Ormond Ferraris’ argument featured in the Mailbag (#1589) that improvements to the “Beach” training track at Turffontein were poorly planned and executed.
Davis writes: The refurbishment of the beach track was discussed on a number of occasions at the Turffontein trainers’ representative meetings and it was agreed with the trainers’ representatives that the track, due to its deteriorating drainage properties and the resulting many days lost for training, was to be refurbished.
This major project (R3,1million) was budgeted to be done during the 2009 / 2010 financial year. Initially the project was planned for the 2010 winter months, but due to pressure from the Turffontein trainers to have the track refurbished as soon as possible, we agreed to proceed immediately. Our budget for the new financial year beginning 1 August was approved as part of racing’s 5-year plan and the planning of the project and sourcing of suitable sand began soon thereafter.
The contractor was appointed and work started on 21st September 2009 - the completion date was targeted for end November early December 2009 as it was a substantial and complex project.. The project entailed the lifting of all the existing sand, the restoration of the base work i.e. the drainage layer, the replacement of the geofabric membrane (the dividing layer between the drainage layer and the sand) and the checking of the drainage pipes to ensure they were fully functional and the replacement of any damaged pipes.
The entire sand surface (2000m in length by 7m in width requiring 6 000 tons of sand) was to be replaced with the selected washed plaster sand. All the base work, excluding the placement of sand, was completed in good time. The sand supply was disrupted for a number of reasons. The same supplier supplied sand for the Vaal sand racing track and the Turffontein beach track. The same supplier also supplied sand to the Gautrain project (which we were not aware of when we placed the order).
The unusually heavy rains which fell during the duration of the project disrupted the washing and delivery of sand to both sites. The on-site work at both the Vaal and Turffontein was hindered by the continual rains due to the above delays and the contractor’s closure over the Christmas period there was no progress made on the track from mid December to the first week of January 2010. Sand deliveries to Turffontein resumed on 6th January 2010 and it is envisaged that the track will be completed by the last week of January 2010.
When the problems with the delivery of sand surfaced during the project, a decision was made to complete a 600m section of the track plus a pull up area of approximately 400m (incidentally equivalent to the entire Randjesfontein beach track!) to enable trainers to work their horses during wet periods. This section was completed on time and opened for use early in December 2009. It so happened that December was a particularly wet month, therefore affecting the earth training tracks, and some trainers utilised the completed section of the new track.
After discussion with the trainers’ representatives, slight modifications were made to the maintenance programme, and there has been very positive feedback from all those who have been using the track in December and January. So much so that up to 244 horses have been recorded as working on this track in one morning.
Contrary to Mr Ferraris’ assertions in the mailbag article, Phumelela certainly does have the interests of the horse and horsemen at the forefront of its thinking. In addition to the R3,1 million spent on the Turffontein beach track, a further R3 million was successfully spent on replacing the Vaal sand racing surface with a far more horse friendly surface, and there is a serious commitment via the racing division’s 5 year plan to improve the facilities for horses and horsemen across the Phumelela regions going forward.
- www.racingweb.co.za
5 Jan

Pari-Mutuel Betting: More Tote Mystery

On Saturday I hosted a visitor from the UK at Kenilworth racecourse. Just prior to the running of the Queens Plate he asked me if local racing was pari-mutuel with a minimum R1 return on place bets. I thought it was, so I said "yes". Pocket Power was showing R1.20 for a place, so my visitor decided to wager R10,000 place on the race. Everyone was ecstatic when Pocket Power came home lonely. But, to his horror, he ended up placing a winning bet, but making a loss of R1,000 on the race as the place payout was just R0.90 cents. I obviously don't know the rules or the basics of pari-mutuel systems. Being embarrassed, I politely offered to pay him the R1,000 shortfall. Clearly the "impact" was due to the dead heat for third place. BUT, in my mind, this dead heat should never impact the place payouts of the 1st and 2nd horses. Surely, the impact should only be on the place payouts of the dead-heaters for 3rd place being halved. Things on the tote get stranger and stranger. Am I wrong ?
Yours In Racing (and more confused than ever)
via email - Andy Kay
5 Jan