G McDonald
27th Sep 2020
Cecil,Cecil have you waded home from your favourite Tote?
We have broken through the ceiling today at Hollywoodbets Greyville.
They raced in the wet,they raced in the wet.
Good Golly you guys raced in the
Graham HJ
27th Sep 2020
So much more to query......don't stop, plenty to protect especially the integrity, good luck with that. I bet readers/punter ask for clarity quite a lot with the way SA racing is run, the one's I sit with have loads of
Tony Mincione
27th Sep 2020
Hollywoodbets Greyville – All The Selections
@A.Essack: "S. African racing has become strictly a Nursery for two year old horses."
Not yet, but soon possibly.
I bred horses for about 15 years. During that time I was extremely aware that we don't really have a "normal market" where the buyers outnumber the sellers. When I first started selling I noticed immediatey that on a 200 horse sale, the top buyers bought up to 10 or 12 lots each and then it trickled down to singles.
I realised there were about 30 or 40 buyers essentially, and like form studiers they came to a similar conclusion as to what should run. So buyers competed hard for (the top) 10-20% and so on, and the bottom half was left to hope and deals.
Luckily, some horses defy the stats (or don't know how much they cost :D).
I had commented somewhere that if/when exports "open" the danger SA faces could be similar to what happened to NZ. But in a post-covid world, things may well be different. Possibly we will mainly lose our top horses to get Mr Essack's "nursery" effect.
The main immediate impact on racing is that 30 or 40 good horses leaving will hurt showcase races, and top yearlings leaving will seperate local bloodstock into (home vs international) stock.
There is nothing to be done but accept it if/when it comes. It would be nice if those that profit don't crow as much at our public loss.
A good side effect might be that money can be made by picking well and selling overseas and taking the... read more
Jay August
27th Sep 2020
Hollywoodbets Greyville – All The Selections
Going through the fields and races for Sunday's meet I notice that a Graduation Plate is carded as race 2 and is excluded from the P6.
Nobody will ask why a Maiden Plate or MR Handicap has been included while the one non-Maiden Plate race has been excluded.
But come Monday after a carryover they will bemoan the fact that the MR system has destroyed racing by making it a
Asgar Essack
27th Sep 2020
Hollywoodbets Greyville – All The Selections
Before I forget.
Let me throw out another mouthful of vomit against this horrendous MR System.
Race 1 at Turfontein
Thumbs Up a maiden was rated 93
But battled to dead heat with an unraced zero rated horse.
Surely this has to be another nail in the coffin of the "Beloved" MR
Graham Martin
27th Sep 2020
Hollywoodbets Greyville – All The Selections
well said Asgar, I agree with your view on the MR SYSTEM and so say all of
Jay August
27th Sep 2020
Hollywoodbets Greyville – All The Selections
Graham, in the great scheme of SA racing facts are the always the first victim. The NHA rule book specifically states that handicaps are created in order to equalise the chances of all competitors and that merit ratings are the means by which handicaps must be weighted. This is no mystery as a handicap has no other meaning to me than that, with the proviso that the method of establishing the handicap can be some other metric i.e. a race figure.
The rule book does not dictate to the operator that they must use MR handicaps in their race programme. The operators have decided that of their own free will. They can and may chose to exclude all MR handicaps if they so wish. The operator is therefore the entity solely responsible for the programming of MR handicaps.
The stats for MR handicaps in season 2019/20 show that they are not a lottery at all although to the untrained eye that is what they may appear. The top3 in MR handicaps won 44% more races than those outside the top3 when adjusted for expectation. Put another way the strike rate for the top3 MRs in an MR handicap was 12.66% against 8.04% for those outside the top3.
The edge in predicting winners from the top3 MRs versus all others is meaningful. The fact that the edge evaporates when adjusted for odds shows that the crowd is not stupid, and neither are the bookmakers. As a punter you are not wagering against the operator, the MR system, or any other entity. You are wagering against the weight of... read more
Asgar Essack
27th Sep 2020
Hollywoodbets Greyville – All The Selections
No Wonder......Undercover Agent.
Coincidentally Undercover Agent is running in the Princess Magaret Cup at Mauritius today.
If Merit Ratings had anything to do with it .
He would be carrying 100 kilos.
Fortunately he is thrown in at the weights
And the stakes is not bad
It is a small but exciting field and I am sure Undercover Agent will not let his supporters down.
Banker in all bets.
All our best horses are going overseas while we are smothered with MR 58 Fillies and Mares Handicaps even on weekends.
It seems S. African racing has become strictly a Nursery for two year old horses.
Owners who spend millions can only enjoy one season of racing .
Owners who have the means can send their stars overseas.while others are forced to sell their horses to Mauritian and other owners because of the limited opportunities in S. Africa.
Well,it's tough luck for those who feel I am spitting out nonsense because the fact of the matter is.... It is what it is.
And Jay please! don't suggest that owners and trainers are free to give their opinions.
Their horses will be victimised.
Even if you feel my arguments and suggestions are illogical.
There are thousands out there who support my views.
Just as you are a staunch supporter of the MR System.
I am and always will be a major critic of this unfair,unjust and cruel imported system that has turned our racing upside
Preston M
27th Sep 2020
If my memory serves me correctly, the last time a similar situation arose was at Scotville. Empress Club, paid more for a place than for a win. The reasoning that was given was that a punter who has taken a substantial place wager cancelled his bet just before the
Vincent James
26th Sep 2020
Sporting Post you are not only promoting the horse racing industry but protecting and promoting an industry that depends on integrity... Well
Pieta Louw.
26th Sep 2020
Summer Cup Ante-Post Betting Opens
Cecil, in my ou dae in die kerk het ons nog old brown sherrie gekry.....by nagmaal...die ou oom langs my het sommer n double
Graham Martin
26th Sep 2020
Hollywoodbets Greyville – All The Selections
Jay, my initial gripe was not with changing from MR handicaps to Plate races. If the owners and trainers want MR handicaps well ja no fine, so be it but my argument is in fact the way that the MR handicap system is implemented. When the MR system first replaced the RF it was fine, no problem, but once Germiston and then Newmarket race courses were closed the flood gates opened and here we are, I still maintain that the way in which the MR system of handicapping is implemented now has reduced horse racing to a lottery! It's nothing but a guessing game! The recent Gold Cup is a prime example of this! If a horse wins a MR handicap today how many times must this same horse run unplaced before he can win again? Is this consistency?, is it form? Pick up a race card and what do you see? Do you see any form? no! I repeat, the MR system of handicapping has reduced horse racing to a LOTTERY! i REST MY
Graham HJ
26th Sep 2020
The rush for export begins........it was all about that, always. It took longer than the thought but they will now rake in the rewards now that the punter has kept them
Cecil Pienaar
26th Sep 2020
Summer Cup Ante-Post Betting Opens
😂 , ja Pieta Daar is niks fout met druiwe sap of Nagmaal wyn nie. En ou Steve is n goeie Engelsman wat nie k*k vat nie. If racing is on tomorrow I reckon your fav Ntl trainer, Uncle Den's horse, Priceless Ruler is a banker
Jay Akkiah
26th Sep 2020
The course will suit your style of riding
All the best my
Frankie
26th Sep 2020
Frankie Zackey...Talk about transparency,, well done Joe Soma....it's absolute disgrace that we the punters are left in the dark far too often...where's the transparency about draws taking place for this year's Summer Cup,,the build up to this year's cup sucks so far,, punters look so forward to draws taking place along public gallops...shame on you talk about improving racing,,wake up school
Pieta Louw.
26th Sep 2020
Summer Cup Ante-Post Betting Opens
Cecil, ek het dit al hoeveel keer gese dat daai Steve Reid mooi brits gebruik.....maar hy kan darem slegte uitlaatings oor n kerkmens
Jay August
26th Sep 2020
Summer Cup Ante-Post Betting Opens
Steve, I suggest you ask the Local Pattern Committee or the Operator for the detail you seek as I am not a spokesperson for that committee or the
Jay August
26th Sep 2020
Hollywoodbets Greyville – All The Selections
MGram, If you wish to establish my connection to the NHA then the latest annual report should suffice as my involvement is plainly stated for the last financial year. And no I am not employed by the NHA and never have been. I do however do work for them on an ad hoc basis as and when requested but that constitutes no formal employment and no formal commitment.
That work does not involve waving a flag for the NHA and my comments are my own, are not vetted by the NHA and remain my own no matter what involvement I may have had or may have in future with the NHA. Having a connection with the NHA may be seen as sacrilegious by you but that only serves to highlight how dangerously tribalistic SA racing has become.
If you wish to dismiss my arguments not on their correctness but by a connection I may or may not have with the NHA then I submit to you that you have a closed mind, are clearly partial and are guilty of exactly what you appear to want to accuse me of.
Now let me ask you the same question. What is your connection with those that oppose the NHA and would seek to have it replaced by some other body at best, or watered down with a compliant board and executive at
Pieter Bekker
27th Sep 2020
Marshall Settles For The MJ Magic
Put local racing on openview
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