2014.What a bloody year it was. When the lights went out and horseracing’s bureaucracy played their mind games, we always had the comfort of knowing that we could rely on champions of the ilk of Piere Strydom, Justin Snaith and Mike De Kock. And some top horses like Majmu, Act Of War, Legislate and Cold As Ice, too.
People who look at the past through rose-tinted glasses are happier than those who focus on negative past experiences and regrets.
That is according to a study published in the journal ‘Personality and Individual Differences.’
Let’s enjoy a quick reflection on a year of ups and downs and a few people and events that may stimulate some good and bad memories.
Striker’s 5000
Milestone man – Piere Strydom
No matter what else happened, Piere Strydom’s 5000 winner milestone achieved with a victory on the Dynasty colt Act Of War in the Gr2 Selangor Cup at Kenilworth on 22 November has to go down as the unique defining moment in a tough year.
The 48 year old put the crowning glory on a career spanning 33 years and, many felt, appropriately in the ‘springbok silks’ of leading owners, Ingrid and Markus Jooste.
Ironically it was at a venue 2000km away from Striker’s home base, but that wasn’t important as the Cape public turned out in numbers.
It was the one event in probably the past decade that brought a tear of joy to the eye for many of us who have loved the game for a long time.
It was simply put – ‘a rush’. But a genuine one.
S’manga ‘Bling’ Khumalo
It’s my borthday! S’manga Khumalo
It has been a mixed year for the 28 year Khumalo, a man often seen as the new generation’s answer to Piere Strydom.
Gloriously crowned South Africa’s first black champion jockey in July, he has lived through 2014 with the cloud of a suspension hanging over his head that dates back to Guy Fawkes Day of 2013 at the Vaal. The Stipes handed him a 60 day suspension for failing to take all reasonable and permissible measures to ensure a best finishing position on the Sean Tarry runner, Supertube.
His appeal against the suspension was dismissed on 14 March but Khumalo then instructed his legal counsel to approach the High Court to review the finding of the Appeal Board.
Strict timelines and conditions were apparently instituted by the NHA for the launching of the court application.
It was clear that any suspension would derail Khumalo’s championship aspirations and he went on to secure the title.
So while he achieved his dream, as the sun sets on 2014, the matter apparently lies in the lap of the courts and uncertainty rules.
Justin Snaith
Justin Snaith – SA champion trainer
It is very rare indeed for a Cape based trainer to win the South African trainer’s championship title but Justin Snaith achieved the impossible when wresting the trophy held for close on a decade by the legendary Mike De Kock.
Snaith finished the season with total stakes of R19 490 725 (R5 million ahead of Geoff Woodruff) and 194 winners in total.
Snaith said the championship was a plan a quarter of a century in the making and ascribed the formula for success to his trusting and understanding owners and the support of his family and trusted team.
“Anyone can train a horse, it’s what you do when the wheels fall off – that’s the difference between being good and great,” he said at the time.
Salesgate
CTS Chairman Chris Van Niekerk – making things happen
An unprecedented battle for supremacy and dominance of South Africa’s thoroughbred sales market broke out with the first shots being fired in September.
Cape Thoroughbred Sales announced that they would stage a Ready To Run Sale on the same weekend in Johannesburg as BSA’s traditional Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale.
With Summerhill crossing the floor and joining CTS, the sale was conducted at the inner city venue of Sandton’s Inanda Club and some sanity prevailed with the sale taking place on the Friday, with the BSA sale happening on the Sunday.
Forward thinking industry leaders like Mike De Kock called for both parties to come together and find a way of co-existing within certain parameters. He also warned that a wild horse on the loose and too much noise could ‘bring the roof crashing down on the entire congregation’.
2015 should be an interesting year.
Jockey International
RA CEO Larry Wainstein – Jockey International organiser
The NHA announced in July that the awarding of Protea colours to the jockeys representing South Africa at the 2013 Jockeys International Challenge was outside the scope of authority of the organisers.
Despite this blow to its credibility, the event went ahead at Turffontein and Kenilworth in mid November with Racing, It’s A Rush as the title sponsor.
Trainers, owners and the racing public were not thrilled at the quality of the international team though, with some trainers refusing to allow the internationals to ride their horses and others just not supporting the meeting.
The event looks set to fade and die unless the organisers can secure the genuine big names that Joe Public can identify with and want to come out and watch.
Racing, It’s A Rush
Maps Maponyane – needs to come to the party
For the first time in the history of SA horseracing, ‘a single unified brand’ was launched in August to represent the sport.
Four months down the line, we remain unconvinced, although the distantly related ‘Jozi Jockey’ Sansui Summer Cup digital campaign appears to have been a success.
But the credibility of any initiative can only lie in its people and their actions.
Maps Maponyane is the Rush ambassador. When last has he been racing, we wonder? No doubt he will turn up in one of the style villages at the Met at the end of January.
The absence of any genuine social media communication from him also makes us wonder just how committed he really is.
And his failure to ‘not engage further’ on a simple enquiry from a Sporting Post Reader recently also speaks volumes of a lack of authenticity.
You see Maps, it is turning the potential negatives into positives that make the real difference in marketing.
We hope to see you at the Summer Cup in 2015…
Wayne Kruger
The non-event of the year, but one that continues to puzzle us.
An unknown Cape Punter won the Turffontein Summer Cup Pick 6 and found himself at the centre of an open-bet propaganda storm of magnanimous proportions. Flown to Joburg, wined and dined at Turffontein and a Tellytrack interview to vent his anguish, he spoke of being basically taken for a ride by his lack of awareness of bookmakers odds limits.
And then nothing – Wayne Kruger appears to have disappeared into suburbia and off the radar as quickly as he arrived.
July Objection
Drama as July result goes to boardroom
The horseracing community was divided after an extraordinary objection in the Vodacom Durban July saw the runner-up Legislate promoted to first after Weiho Marwing’s Wylie Hall had passed the post first.
Despite his own mount shifting, Richard Fourie felt that Legislate would have won had he not been brushed and intimidated and also carried over in the final 300m by MJ Byleveld on Wylie Hall.
Legislate’s detractors may have had a rethink since as the magnificent Dynasty colt came out after a four month break and sauntered home to win the Gr2 Green Point Stakes in November.
Wylie Hall has had one subsequent run when finishing 8,20 lengths behind Futura in the Gr1 Champions Cup. He has not been heard of since.
So while Justin Snaith put the cherry on top of a great season, Weiho Marwing picked up a R10 000 fine (R5000 suspended) for dishing out abuse, swearing at, and intimidating and threatening those present in the Stipes boardroom after the big race.
Can’t say we blame him – how many chances does anybody get in a lifetime to win the July?
Tellytrack
Of all SA horseracing entities, Tellytrack earned itself the title of PR Wally of the year.
In February we were told that Multichoice would be scrapping the channel.
Then we were informed that from Monday 10 March, Tellytrack would focus on local racing only and would drop its international feed.
That ill-conceived move was then reversed.
The real motivation, an issue with bookmakers and fees, appears to have been at the root of all the manoeuvres (hey, has the customer ever mattered?) and court action followed.
Through it all the Racing Association also dropped live streaming of racing from its website as it feared the feed was ‘being pirated by certain bookmakers.’
The matter is ongoing – as far as we know.
SABC Drops Met
While on matters of broadcasting, that highly esteemed institution, the SABC announced that it had decided to drop the J&B Met coverage for the first time in many years in 2014.
Coverage would be taken over by Multichoice’s Vuzu Channel – defined as a youth-focussed entertainment channel.
Does anybody really care?
A happy and prosperous 2015 to all horseracing enthusiasts.
