Where is South African racing at the current moment?
Ethanicity Research, an Independent SA Horseracing Research Partnership, has written to the Sporting Post Mailbag
They write that many months back they felt moved to publish a view of where we considered the industry to be at then and suggested, if not implored, that it required a collective leadership to rally together and direct us in the right direction toward a brighter light.
So where are we at the moment?
But for the celebratory news of the Export Markets being reopened thanks to the incredible effort of a dedicated team, two record-breaking Yearling Sales, and the continued generous broad sponsorship of a few major parties to prop up horseracing in these times, the general mood of racegoers remains deeply troubled, disgruntled and dark.
Sadly, it seems that the leadership effort has not stepped forward sufficiently to throttle the rot of discontent that besieges many. If this is an incorrect statement it is only incorrect in that no information nor signal is publicly noticed and the atmosphere remains somewhat further aggravated and even more deeply polarised than before.
Troubled times need strong, decisive, fair, principled, sincere, swift, and transparent leadership that is neither self-serving nor self-preserving. Without that, a way forward is unlikely to be found.
However, it is also glaringly evident that the elite of this industry, those whom many respect and hold in high regard, including those who have become influencers within the industry, remain strangely silent publicly on serious matters that continue to arise.
We urge them to cease their silence and enter the debate in an effort to bring a fair cessation of what has been going on and end the deeply dividing issues.
It can be argued quite legitimately that the events of recent weeks and months is hypocritical to the call for the reclaiming of industry credibility initiated in the Cape last year. Achieving that requires especially leadership to act with credibility and, given the gravity of the matters arising, also requires a sense of urgency.
It was Napoleon who said:
Has SA Horseracing not suffered enough to warrant an appropriate response?
