In what appears to be a bizarre attempt to muscle in and effectively hijack an event in which he had little or no direct involvement, Tex Lerena of the Jockeys Association of SA (JASA) 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.
The Sporting Post has viewed documentation which indicates that a direct attempt was made to interfere with the composition of the South African team to take on an international side over two days this weekend.
This included attempts to elicit support from senior jockeys to have a non-JASA member ‘dropped’ from the team and for suggestions of potential replacement candidates – and also to ‘congratulate’ other non participant/s on their inclusion.
Andrew Fortune – politely declined
Andrew Fortune is one senior jockey who was approached by JASA but declined to replace Greg Cheyne, as he felt the Capetonian had earned his spot on merit.
The Racing Association, who are the event organisers, have confirmed that no application was made by themselves to SASCOC for the awarding of national colours to the SA team, who will take on a top-class international team over two days this weekend.
In an exclusive interview with the Sporting Post, Racing Association CEO Larry Wainstein said that the 2015 event is an invitational international jockeys challenge. The participants in both teams had been selected by a panel – not by an approved national selection committee, either in South Africa or overseas.
RA CEO Larry Wainstein
The owner body is now in the eighth year of its organisation and hosting of an event that has seen some of the world’s best riders showcase their talents on local racecourses.
“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. I believe we have a powerful team, representative of the cream of our riders,” he said.
Wainstein added that the overseas team would ride individually in the silks of the country of their birth.
Wainstein’s response followed a breaking news item published by ourselves on Wednesday evening, where it emerged that the Jockey Association of SA (JASA) had allegedly made application to SASCOC for national colours to be awarded to the individuals selected.
Wainstein confirmed that he had no knowledge of the application actually having been submitted and said that he would be puzzled had such an application actually been made.
“JASA has nothing to do with the event directly. We, the RA, are the organisers and the hosts. Any such externally routed application could only serve to undermine and confuse the arrangements. And our selected team have all understood that they are representing this beautiful country – but without official national colours being awarded. The guys are all looking forward to the event,” he confirmed.
A reliable source also informed the Sporting Post that threats had been made by certain of the team to boycott the event if non JASA members participated.
Interestingly, on a SASCOC application document for the event, allegedly made by the SA Equestrian Federation on behalf of JASA, the name of jockey Greg Cheyne was not included.
Greg Cheyne – caught in the crossfire
Cheyne is a member of the breakaway Coastal Jockeys Association.
In a further bizarre twist, certain jockeys were also directed to attend an International Jockeys’ Challenge function at Sun City earlier this week on the basis that they had been ‘selected’.
Raymond Danielson had apparently been informed by JASA that he was included in the team as Muzi Yeni had been elevated from reserve to ‘replace’ the ousted Greg Cheyne.
This potentially awkward situation was handled sensitively by the hosts, who allowed the obviously embarassed Danielson to stay on at the function.
Two senior jockeys have also indicated that they intend to resign their membership of JASA as a result of this incident.
Larry Wainstein pleaded for sanity to prevail:”Let’s cut the politics and get on with the challenge. We can enjoy the racing and the varying riding skills. We owe it to our special guests, the owners and trainers, and to the punting public. And let’s remember that we are here because we love the game,” he said.
The official SA team is:
Gavin Lerena (Captain) , Greg Cheyne, Anthony Delpech, S’manga Khumalo, Anton Marcus and Piere Strydom.
The International team is:
Hayley Turner (Captain), Francisco Franco da Silva (Brazil), Pat Cosgrave (Ireland), Robert Havlin (Scotland), Aurelien Lemaitre (France),and E duardo Perdosa (Panama).
