Tony Rivalland aka Google
‘He’s opinionated but his pretty bloody close to the mark’. The irrepressible James Goodman’s parting shot to KZN trainer Tony Rivalland was followed by an admission that ‘some of us have had to eat humble pie some way down the road.’
Known to some as ‘Google’ because he ‘knows everything’, Rivalland, a former policeman who has trained horses in the region for thirty years, was a guest on this week’s Winning Ways show.
The popular show hosted by Paul Lafferty and James Goodman airs every Monday evening.
If you’d rather watch than read, click here for the fascinating full interview:
Rivalland has played a role in representing the local trainers in working closely with the professionals to conceptualise and develop the ‘new’ Summerveld Training Centre.
Whether the popular show was played according to script or not, Gold Circle showed a refreshingly transparent approach to unveiling some interesting aspects of its own ‘transformation’ in the past 4 years.
Goodman launched by referring Rivalland to a ‘freely available’ report that indicated that he had ripped into the Gold Circle Board in 2010, when Chairman of the KZN Trainer’s Association.
The article, off racingweb.co.za includes some fascinating insights into a man who has obviously changed his opinion completely, judging by his current favourable position.
The article, which had Rivalland labelled a ‘delinquent’ (and no doubt a few other unspecified things too) by certain Executves of the company, makes for interesting reading against the background of the newly found positive state of play in the province.
The Article
TONY RIVALLAND, the Chairman of the KZN Trainers Association, has accused the Gold Circle Board of poor business ethics, a failure to uphold corporate governing standards and tactical corporate manouvering which he believes is hampering progress and prosperity in Gold Circle regions.
Writing in his 2009/10 Chairman’s Report, Rivalland estimates that Gold Circle will show a loss of R20 million for the most recent financial year-end.
That Gold Circle’s remuneration committee recently granted executive salary increases knowing this, gives him “a bitter taste and a degree of despair”.
Rivalland feels that Gold Circle has left (trainers, etc) “weak and at the mercy of fate” in what he terms “the darkest time in our history”.
He lists a number of issues he believes are of concern and argues that:
-The dismissal of former Gold Circle CEO Michel Nairac was a hasty decision “engineered” by the company’s Western Cape Chapter.
-Gold Circle’s Chief Operating Officer Graeme Hawkins lacks business acumen.
– Commercial Director Patrick Loker does not have the experience to develop a “turnaround strategy”.
-A joint venture between Gold Circle and an unnamed developer for a potentially income-providing boutique hotel at Summerveld was “hijacked” by one Gold Circle director after it was given a unanimous thumbs-up by the Regional Board.
-The recent 42% stable rental increase wasn’t tabled for trainers’ approval, showing Gold Circle’s “blatant disregard for protocol”.
-The new lease contracts contain unacceptable conditions and anomalies that would set the region’s trainers back a great deal considering the reduction in stakes announced last month.
Hawkins commented: “Tony Rivalland has behaved in a delinquent manner and we’ll be investigating his conduct at Board level.”
Rivalland concluded that he was positive about the possibility of a blueprint for a “new and unified Gold Circle”, already mandated to a special sub-committee comprising members of both the KZN and Western Cape regions.
He said, that the future of Gold Circle lay either with or without a third party investor, alternatively as two separate entities in an amicable and equitable divorce proposal.”
Black Sheep
Summerveld Training Centre has brand new tracks and stabling
Rivalland looked sheepish for a moment after Goodman quoted casually from the article , but then regained his composure putting the differences down to the fact that he had a duty to lay the cards on the table in the interests of the body he was representing at the time.
“It was an unfortunate period in Gold Circle’s history. There were problems with the Western Cape and different ideas were being put forward. But they weren’t personal issues and things have improved greatly since Michel Nairac’s return, “ he said.
Not personal? Okay.
Marshall The Troops
Cape trainer Vaughan Marshall also came in for some stick on the show after his comments recently that he would rather raid Gauteng than go to KZN and have to be based at Summerveld.
We recently carried an article in this regard from the Gold Circle website, but SP reader Hilton Witz brought our attention to the fact that it appeared to have been subsequently deleted from the operator’s website.
Read it here
https://www.sportingpost.co.za/?p=76206
Both Goodman and Rivalland appeared to find Marshall’s comments puzzling, saying that comparisons between Milnerton and Summerveld were basically unbelievable.
“You can’t make a statement like that. Look at their tracks – and the stables at Milnerton are older than me,” laughed James.
Rivalland then added that the bulk of the Champions Season winners had hailed from Summerveld and quoted Cape trainer Brett Crawford who apparently said that if one can’t train winners from Summerveld, then ‘something was wrong’.
“Why does everybody want boxes in Summerveld if it is so bad?” asked Goodman
Rivalland paid tribute to the new stables (some of our sources tell us they cost R150 000 for each box!) and added that the new trainers had settled down at the various rings and were even ‘working horses on the turn.’
“I don’t know if it is my imagination but the horses just seem so relaxed in the new boxes,” he said.
Vaughan Marshall – taking stick because he voiced his opinion
He added that there was a moratorium on new stable applications.
Rare Stakes
Rivalland went on to bemoan the Tellytrack – Bookies dispute which he said had affected Gold Circle’s ability to be paying the best stakes in South Africa.
He also said that despite the fact that KZN trainers were disadvantaged as it was not easy to find the right buyers in the province, the quality of horses racing in the province was still good and getting better.
“There had been a shift to the Western Cape. The big breeders are there and a lot of wealthy people tended to retire there. That is not even taking into account their European buying power,” he said.
Goodman added that exciting things were happening in KZN, but that the sale of Clairwood was ‘unfortunate.’
“It has always been the policy to look after owners and trainers. If there is not enough money racing will deteriorate. Owners already subsidise the shortfall to the tune of R550 million – it is better to shrink that shortfall. Pushing costs of, for example stabling up, will only mean that trainers will pass that on to owners. This game will eventually become the preserve of the rich,” warned Rivalland.
The first regular Friday night Greyville Polytrack meeting under the lights will be held on Friday 19 September.
