These Australians are blooming spoilsports. Black Caviar is giving the Gr1 QIPCO Sussex Stakes a miss at Glorious Goodwood and avoiding a potentially mindbending head-on clash with the globe’s highest-rated horse, Frankel. We have got to admire the sponsor’s generosity though!
Imagine one of our local sponsors increasing a race sponsorship by over 300% just to lure two of the world’s current biggest equine drawcards? Never ever in Africa, Boetie!
The sponsors of the Sussex Stakes, QIPCO, have raised the race sponsorship from 300 000 pounds to 1 million pounds on condition that the two horses, unbeaten in thirty-one races between them, turn up on the second day of the Glorious Goodwood Festival.
The QIPCO Sussex Stakes is one of the 35 races which make up the 2012 QIPCO British Champions Series and was won last year by the sensational Frankel.
The race is run over a mile and therein lies the first probable rub-a-dub-dub. Is it really fair to expect a sprinting machine to stretch herself to a mile and take on the world’s best horse? Fair enough, Black Caviar has won up to 1400m. And I thought money makes everything right.
Black Caviar is scheduled to arrive in the UK in the next few weeks and she will be running at Royal Ascot between 19 and 23 June.
The effort on the part of the Goodwood bosses and their obviously well-endowed sponsor, makes for remarkable reading. And it also helps us realise just how far behind we are and how the tail wags the poodle here.
We couldn’t even put a relatively small-scale sprinters clash together when Val De Ra met What A Winter and the retired JJ The Jet Plane in Cape Town in January,in a race billed the speed clash of the century. That was an exciting showdown that got everybody talking. Except the boys that see the potential and sign the big cheques.
And it must be a scary prospect that so many of our big races are sponsorless too.
Take this weekend’s racing. At least the Daily News have stuck loyally to their sponsorship of the Gr1 Daily News 2000. And is it not a rather strange reality that KwaZulu-Natal is the only province in this country able to attract substantial sponsorships from the very entities which have cold-shouldered the game in favour of other more newsy and advertiser – friendly sporting codes. That is our newspapers.
Besides the Daily News, the Sunday Tribune and the Rising Sun sponsor races in KZN. But how is it possible that a great race that runs alongside the Daily News 2000, the Gr1 Woolavington and to a lesser extent the Gr3 Lonsdale Stirrup, are without a brand? On Sunday, the Langerman run at Kenilworth is also without a sponsor. Didn’t Betting World sponsor that once upon a time?
So who is QIPCO? Qatar Investment & Projects Development Holding Company (QIPCO Holding) is a diversified private holding company, chaired by Sheik Hamad Bin Abdulla Bin Khalifa Al Thani. QIPCO focuses on private equity investments and forming subsidiary companies in strategic sectors such as real estate, construction, oil & gas, trading & services, finance and health. QIPCO has also established Joint Venture Companies with renowned International Partners like: Siemens – one of the world’s largest electrical engineering, ThyssenKrupp – one of world’s biggest technology groups and Emcor – leaders in facilities and engineering services.
A powerhouse that admittedly makes the likes of Vodacom and J&B look like street-corner café operations. But that is over-simplifying things and ignoring the cultural and commercial realities of two societies who view horseracing from different angles. But the big-money move, more than anything else, is tangible proof that somebody somewhere is thinking and innovating. The irony is that QIPCO have got the good publicity and don’t even have to dig as deep as they thought they may have to when making the offer.
The Black Caviar connections said that they did not intend running Black Caviar at a mile in the QIPCO Sussex Stakes, whether Frankel appeared or not. They said that their aim was to get her back to Melbourne for the Spring Carnival. They conceded that the dual appearance would have been a great selling point for Glorious Goodwood.
The MD of Goodwood, Adam Waterworth, said that while they were obviously disappointed that Black Caviar would not run, they fully understood her connections’ viewpoint.He went on to add that every conceivable avenue had been explored to have both horses on show. That makes the world of difference and we can sure as hell see that.
Black Caviar, a six-year-old mare trained by Peter Moody in Australia, owned by Gary & Kerryn Wilkie, Werrett Bloodstock Pty Ltd, Colin & Jannene Madden, Pam Hawkes, David & Jill Taylor and mostly partnered by Luke Nolen, has been successful on all of her 21 starts.
Frankel, a four-year-old colt trained by Sir Henry Cecil in Newmarket, owned by Khalid Abdulla and ridden by Tom Queally, has won 10 from 10 over 1400m and a mile.
Glorious Goodwood happens at the world’s most beautiful racecourse over five days, from Tuesday, July 31 through to Saturday, August 4, 2012.
Goodbye Uncle Geoff
Geoff Basel
The industry mourns the recent passing of Gauteng based Geoff Basel.
Horseracing has bid fairwell to one of its most staunchest and passionate supporters and a colourful character known to all and loved by everybody.
Geoff Basel was involved at many levels of a sport that he cherished.
He was an avid punter, a racehorse owner and was very proud of the achievements of his family. His brother Dudley Basel was chairman of NATFED and a steward for many years of the Clairwood Turf Club. His son Clyde , is Marketing & Sales Executive of Phumelela, and one of South Africa’s leading race-callers.
Geoff was devastated when he lost his eldest son Keith, a jockey,who died in the Hennenman air-crash. Geoff threw himself behind the efforts to ensure that horseracing never forgot the 24 people who died in the United Airways flight on Tuesday 12 April 1988.He became the Chairman of the families committee of the Hennenman disaster and spoke at the annual raceday.
At the age of 74, Geoff was looking forward to 2012. The triple celebrations of his wife Delore’s 70th birthday, his own 75th birthday, and their 50th golden wedding anniversary were much anticipated family celebrations. They won’t happen for Geoff.
Geoff’s son Clyde, said the family was devastated and called it ‘the saddest day of my life.’
Tellytrack’s Nico Kritsiotis, a close family friend,said: “ Geoff was a very compassionate man and was always free to help out with advice to anyone. He phoned our studios on a daily basis to give his input and always constructive criticism. He was a man from the old school and extremely passionate about his racing. Above all else, he was a family orientated man who treasured his family and kept them very close. It was terrible to see the way he had suffered in the last two months due to his failing health.”
Geoff Basel is survived by his wife Delores, daughter Nadine, and sons Clinton, Clyde and Neil, as well as his grandchildren.
Texan Stakes
In my piece ‘Goodwill & Glory’ of 16 May I covered the opportunities available to South African owners and trainers in Zimbabwe. I inadvertently suggested that average stakes North of the Limpopo were between $600 to $700 per race. The Mashonaland Turf Club have kindly asked us to set the record straight and to confirm that the average stakes are in fact $6000 to $7000 per race. That is United States Dollars too! A good reason to go and race there with weaker horses who are battling here.
