Anybody who thought nothing much has changed in the day-to-day life of the new South Africa wasn’t at Greyville (now Hollywoodbets Greyville) on Sunday, 28 May 1995.
It seems hard to believe that only a few years ago all you could do on Sunday was study form for Wednesday. No more.
Nelson Mandela and Francois Pienaar celebrated a magic moment a month after the first Sunday racemeeting (Pic – Supplied)
South Africa staged its first ever Sunday meeting on 28 May, simply because it also happened to be hosting rugby’s World Cup and there was a game in Durban on Saturday.
Greyville’s meeting was originally scheduled for Saturday May 27, but the powers that be obtained regional government approval to hold the fixture a day later in order to avoid a clash with four Rugby World Cup matches.
And, yes, the bars were open!
The Cape and Gauteng meetings took place on Saturday as scheduled and spreading what are normally three Saturday fixtures over two days proved a success, both in terms of betting turnovers and attendance.
The attendance at Greyville was 8 217, more than double the 3 779 at the corresponding fixture in 1994. Tote betting turnovers were even more encouraging.
Many Tattersalls and tote agencies in Gauteng, as well as several tote branches, opened for business on the Sunday in spite of betting on that day still being illegal in the region.
The tote, bookmakers and racing media in the region thus found themselves participating in a silly charade in which they had to tell punters that betting would be available without actually saying so.
In spite of the limited publicity given to betting facilities, TAB Transvaal turnover was R2,9 million – some R900 000 more than the tote betting giant would take on a normal Saturday meeting in KwaZulu-Natal.
Greyville chief executive Dave Furness estimated that KwaZulu-Natal tote betting turnover on the three meetings was R2 million more, and Cape turnover R1 million more, than would have been the case on a normal Saturday.
