Benson got the silver bullet from Gold Circle and now week after week is firing cheap shots at them by either moaning about not having recieving invites to the media room on July day or to the Equus Awards or lately squealing about the quality of the service at the local Tote outlets.
With regards to the latest gripe to avoid any future problems with placing his R50 Port Elizabeth P.A. why doesn’t he open a telebet account like 95% of the regular punters?in any event the Helderberg Tote which I utilize is very well run by capable management. Likewise the dissemination service in Cape Town is always cheerfully willing to provide information which I have missed.
Benson should get his ducks in a row before siding with the likewise whining bookmaker Dean Finder. Regarding the sponsorship he was squealing about in last week’s column the total amount sponsored by W.C.B Association was R15 000 as opposed to the normal one third of the stakes which amounted to R150 000. My information is that Finder did not provide one penny out of his own pocket, the majority being sponsored by Betting World yet Finder still wanted a number of more freebies than they got.
Benson was Editor of the magazine Parade issued by Gold Circle.I cannot recall that during his time at Gold Circle he complained in writing either about pale structure of administration or any if the other aspects regarding the running of Gold Circle which currently seems to be upsetting him. So when he was employed by Gold Circle he just jogged along with the complacent crew collecting his monthly salary.
Where there is smoke there is usually a fire. Apparently the issue between Benson and Gold Circle regarding kickbacks was due to go to Court in March this year.Maybe Mr.Benson can clear the smokey air and advise the readers if his dispute with Gold Circle has been settled and then he can go back to writing objective articles instead of boring us to death with his back stabs at Gold Circle.
There is a huge difference between constructive and destructive criticism. Benson makes excessive use of adjectives in trying to clarify his complaints but does not provide any concrete alternatives to the status-quo. A.C. Parker of the Argus was the doyen of rugby(and cricket) writing some years ago but would never spitingly criticize losing teams in the same manner as Neville Leck’s did when he was the Rugby Editor of the Cape Times – appropriately Leck’s term at the Cape Times was relatively brief.
It is suggested that Mr. Benson keeps his vendetta with Gold Circle to a personal level and rather concentrates on some of the many other aspects of racing: eg. suggestions to attract the younger generation to the Races, or the whereabouts and lifestyles of injured jockeys like Mark Khan, Conrad Wilkonson and Gerrit Viljoen.
John Carroll – by fax
