Below is from his weekly newsletter,most of you would probably have recieved already but for those that have not,it`s worth a read....
On the subject of keeping racing going:- I read Robyn Louw’s item on a lady who is making big news all over the place of late – Phindi Kema. Robyn lauded her in the Sporting Post two weeks ago and I read the item with a sinking feeling, but resisted responding with my version until now. People in our industry are falling all over themselves to give this aspirant “owner of the turf” as much time and credit as I did when I first made her acquaintance. In addition, it all comes across as so utterly charming and positive — but therein lays the deceit. She has been covered in countless journals — the world over and infamously reviewed by the IOL Newspapers web site in an item titled “South Africa’s Only Female Horse Breeder”. They describe her as “One of SA’s best commercial horse breeders and the only… woman in the business”. Wow! I wonder what she thinks Mrs O, Mary Slack, Veronica Foulkes, Rose Parker, Marianne Thomson, Barbara Sanne, Gaynor Rupert, Liesl King, Pat Clarkson, Sally Jourdan, the late Joyce Tatham, The Hon Patricia O’Neill, Sylvia Harrer, Bridget Parker, Nicola Coppez, Jane Grey, Lindi Garlicki, Nicky Bartlett, Nina Robertson, Pam Lowe, Bev Rodseth, Lyth Orford and countless others would think of that claim. Forgive me for not remembering them all — there are so many!
Therefore, I must try to put this growing fantasy into perspective. What surprised me in Ms Kema’s Tellytrack interview with Andrew Bon on Sunday was her statement that she was “delighted to have brought Phumelela in front of the Competition Commission” as if to claim that she did this to save racing. Oh boy! Another pretender to the throne who wants to get hold of racing’s silverware. We have seen them all — far too many to count. They see owners throw away R300m a year (that is what owners net contribution is to racing) and think, “I want a piece of that”.
So, I decided to take a look at her website
www.africaracegroup.com
— the opening headline is: “Horseracing’s big STALLIONS face the competition commission for: 1. Collusion, 2. Price Fixing, 3. Bullying”. Underneath that is a photograph of the model-like smiling face with another fantastical claim: “Phindi Kema is known as one of South Africa's best commercial horse breeders and the only black woman in the business. She shares her business savvy with Nonhlanhla Khumalo”. Time for a reality check lady! Surely, the description “best commercial horse breeder” requires a track record of some sort? At least one winner. Ms Kema have you bred a winner? Have you owned a winner? The web site further proclaims Ms Kema as the initiator of a race in Southern Cape where the winner will pocket a staggering R25m (that’s 25% of all stakes paid in South Africa in a year)! It also has a business suited Ms Kema above a story in which she claims to be developing a R1.3billion racetrack at a hotel site in Plettenberg Bay. She claims to have the Eastern Cape Development Corp looking at extending their ambitions beyond the automotive industry into horseracing. The web site reads like the script for Steven Spielberg’s next fantasy movie – all huff and puff. If you want to have a good laugh, visit
www.africaracegroup.com
. Surely something that Noseweek should take a look at!
The presentable and well-spoken but rather glib Ms Kema had nothing concrete to offer about her vision for racing during her interview. Déjà vu of when I first met her — after several no-shows I managed to catch up with her in the foyer of a hotel in Cape Town. She told me she had managed to get the government to give her a farm, was intent on joining the industry, and needed guidance. Despite having been stood up, I decided to ‘invest’ in Ms Kema’s wishes.
I have been at the forefront of trying to promote black interest in our sport for over 30 years and have in the process, since I first led in our first winner with my racing partner Richard Maponya 32 years ago, introduced more black people into this game than any other person, why not help Ms Kema as well? I promoted her cause to some of the leading owners and breeders and we made free access available to our stallions for her mares, even to our top stallions that were fully booked at the time. The next year we did the same again. However, as time went on — we got no news of foals being born and very little thanks. This was followed by an expensive yearling purchase that was left unpaid. I started to wonder.
The farm that Ms Kema had “acquired” was previously owned by an old friend — the Late Elwyn Phillips whom I used to visit every year. I knew his staff as wonderful experienced horsemen who had come to the Sunland district with Elwyn when he moved from Tarkastad. That is how long we go back. Therefore, I made enquiries and was told that Ms Kema needed help and guidance on the farm. I sent a very experienced friend from the Karoo who had moved to PE to have a look at the farm. The report was shocking. Elwyn’s loyal staff had been left to their own devices and were unsupported. The horses, those that were left, were not in good nick and there was report of a string of bad debts including the vet and the staff who had vowed to leave. Elwyn’s house was dilapidated and the stables were a mess. The advice I got from my Karoo friend was “stay away; that place is not going to make it”. Nevertheless, what about the horses? What about the horses indeed! “Get someone to take care of them — very soon”. There was no sight of the foals bred from the mares mated to our stallions and we heard stories of injury and death, which Ms Kema subsequently admitted to me. So much for wanting to “save racing”... I have to call a spade a spade and say it’s all rubbish — all deceit.
Despite all of this, like a fool I fell for her next call some years later. She asked to meet me about a racing project. I know how hard it is to attract sponsors to racing — where does the money come from for this new event? She told me she had been guaranteed government backing for a new event, which was to be Africa’s Richest Horse Race — the sums she reported were staggering. Wow! So, I thought, forget past disappointments — I want to hear about this. I invited Ms Kema and her partner to be my guest at the races one Saturday. Mmmm — why did I fall for it? The Plan, if you can call it that: to stage a race for all comers from all over Africa (no entry conditions or rules, complete ignorance of stipendiary attention, etc) on a Polo field in Plettenberg Bay and she was not going to allow the NHRA near the place. “It can't work”, I said, “at least not a proper racing surface (takes a fortune to build that alone!) — and you need all sorts of systems, rules, veterinary assistance, racing-policemen”. I spent the rest of the day with Ms Kema and her English partner and introduced them to the board of Cape Racing in the hope that they would learn from the experience gathered there. Not in the least — they were not listening. I learnt a short while later that racing, according to Ms Kema, is an elitist, white, male-dominated organisation. That after we had done everything possible to welcome Ms Kema into the industry with open arms. No other breeder in SA history has been treated to free services and so much free, friendly advice. It suits her agenda to claim racism, elitism and find any reason at all to slander the hundred thousand odd people who support and invest in this wonderful hobby.
Sorry Ma’am but if you want to wipe your feet on my friendship and care, you cannot have my respect. I do not go back a third time. So let’s take the gloves off and show the world the truth — forget what you read on that website and the dozens of news items she has so skilfully woven. It is patently clear to me; Ms Kema has only one agenda: she is building a sand castle with a view to seemingly worthy of pitting a serious challenge to racing as it is — she wants to be the new boss of racing. Sorry for you lady — we have enough bosses. What we need is MORE rationalisation and to cut UNNESCESSARY costs. We need to merge more costs centres not make new ones. The best thing that ever happened to SA racing was a national tote, national handicapping, national TV, national racing programming, etc. We would not have survived the onslaught of casinos without it. Racing is a tough money losing game all over the world. Anyone wanting to take over right now has just one goal — to strip our assets. Racing owns a lot of property — racecourse and training centres which might appear to be very tantalising to corporate raiding types. However, these cannot be sold — they are central to our daily function.
There is no quick get-rich position in racing Ms Kema — I would have thought that this would have been blatantly clear to you by now. Join the crowd — we all pay in for the privilege of participating in this very expensive hobby — you are clearly out of your league. We all pay our dues in the hope of having fun and yes, some are lucky enough to strike a good one, but there are only so many Gr1 races to be won and lots of us fools dreaming that we are going to get there. For most owners this is a sport, a hobby and the come in with passion to spend disposable income. It is like playing golf, owning a yacht or travelling for fun. Do not expect a return — just enjoy it. The only difference between all of those other endeavours is that in racing, expensive and difficult as it is, unlike any boat or trip around the world, you can strike it lucky and find a champion — the odds; who knows? Maybe 10,000 to 1.
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