Following the recent announcement that South African Veterinary Services has given the green light for Kenilworth Racecourse to be used as an import facility to receive international horses for competition purposes, Gold Circle is gearing up to stage South Africa’s first International race.
There still are technical and logistical issues which need to be ironed out. The offices of Racing South Africa, in association with the SA Veterinary Services, will provide this much needed support to successfully manage the flow of horses in and out of Cape Town.
Gold Circle will be responsible for the overall management of the event but, given that Internationally the prize-money benchmark for such a race appears to be in the region of $1-million, there will be a clear need to bring partners on board in order to meet the financial commitments associated with an event of this magnitude.
While there has already been much speculation as to the level of prize money that may be offered for South Africa’s inaugural international race, negotiations with various interested parties are obviously at a very early stage and no finality is likely to be reached for a few months yet.
From a number of different perspectives, including most importantly the timing of the race, the l’Ormarins Queens Plate does present itself as the obvious race to be promoted as South Africa’s first International Event. Initial discussions with Gaynor Rupert have been most encouraging.
Whilst such an event comes with a significant price tag, there is no doubt that the economic benefits to Cape Town, South Africa and horse racing generally can be equally significant. Hong Kong, Australia, Japan and Dubai have all benefited since the introduction of international carnivals.
Gold Circle appreciates that the possibility of an International race has created a real sense of excitement and anticipation amongst South Africa’s racegoers and stake-holders and it is the Company’s clear intention to inform on a regular basis as to the progress being made. A further announcement in this regard is likely to be made towards the end of April, by which time current negotiations should have been finalised.
