JOBS AND HORSES IN JEOPARDY AS SA RACING FACES CLOSURE

JOBS AND HORSES IN JEOPARDY AS SA RACING FACES CLOSURE

Tens of thousands of jobs are on the line including the entire thoroughbred horse racing industry after the Coronavirus Command Centre (CCC) on Monday rejected the National Horseracing Authorities (NHA) submission to race behind closed doors. Also on the line are the lives of hundreds of racehorses who face possible euthanasia if government does not permit racing to resume soon.

After reviewing the NHA submissions last week, racing was deemed by the CCC as not to be an essential service in spite of assertions that racing is a low risk, non-contact event with high economic value as the racing events are a critical element in the supply chain and a related Agricultural service.

However, the CCC decided that racing could not be separated from gambling activities like casinos, and these are currently not included under Level 4.

Michel Nairac, CEO of Gold Circle, the company that runs horseracing in KZN, said that there seemed to be a misunderstanding by the CCC as to the simplicity of what the NHA’s submission entailed. “They appeared to confuse gambling with racing.

They didn’t seem to understand that the same people that are looking after the horses in the training centres are the same people that will be on the racecourse.”

The JSE listed company Phumelela Gaming and Leisure, the company that runs horseracing in all provinces except KwaZulu-Natal, was already under massive financial stress before lock-down and announced on Monday that although the Group remains engaged in discussions aimed at raising capital, should these discussions not prove conclusive, the Board will soon have to decide on whether there is any reasonable prospect that the Group’s business can be rescued, or whether to make application for voluntary liquidation.

Phumelela folding will have a catastrophic effect on thoroughbred horse racing and a decision on whether or not to keep the company afloat was to be taken at a crucial board meeting yesterday - the meeting was originally schedule for today.

Not only does Phumelela operate the national totalisator, they also control the horse racing channel Tellytrack on DStv and importantly the international arm of the sport with the sale of our racing product to international betting markets.

“If Phumelela goes under, racing faces a very bleak future,” said Nairac.

A consequence is that tens of thousands of jobs are at stake. With no racing in the Phumelela controlled regions, Gauteng, Western and Eastern Provinces, Northern Province and Free State, grooms will be retrenched.

There will also be dire consequences for the horses in all the racing centres as not only is the labour-intensive sport being threatened financially but also ethically. With no racing, hundreds of thoroughbred racehorses face euthanasia and every horse has a groom.

Justin Snaith runs one of the biggest racing operations in the country, training 150 horses and employing 100 people. He sees these numbers dropping unless racing resumes soon.

Speaking to Michael Clower he said; “The racing industry is going to take a knock and, if we carry on like this with no racing, there will be repercussions and long-term damage. We need to resume as soon as possible.”

“There is a lot of pressure from owners wanting racing to resume – racehorses are extremely expensive. My own owners have been understanding so far but for how much longer? The pressure will rise and we can only go on for so long before we start having problems.”

Asked if he will be able to keep all his staff, he answered: “It is going to be hard” and he described a sharp drop in the number of horses he trains as “inevitable.”

Snaith believes that keeping racing suspended, even though it will be staged behind closed doors, does not tally with the success the industry has had in keeping the Corona virus at bay.

He said: “So far as I know no-one in racing has contracted Covid-19. Racing is one of the few industries in which you can say that they have isolated and quarantined the entire operation. This is particularly the case at Summerveld in KZN where there are over 700 people who have been employed, quarantined and fed during the entire lockdown period.”

Given that it is costly to keep a racehorse in training, and that trainers in turn are under severe financial pressure, few of them are able to carry the costs of keeping these horses so humane euthanasia and staff retrenchments are their only options.

Kenilworth Racing joint chairman Robert Bloomberg, himself an owner of several horses, painted a gloomy jobs picture of racing under lockdown when asked about the effect of the present no-racing situation on stable employers and employees.

He said yesterday: “Horses have already been euthanised in numbers, and that is the sad reality.”
Asked if all trainers would be able to stay in business if racing does not resume shortly, he replied: “How can they? It’s impossible – some owners are already dumping horses on their trainers and remember: for every horse that gets euthanised, a groom loses his job.

“And you must remember that for many trainers the biggest issue is that they are big owners in their own right with shares in the horses they train.”
There have been no incidences of the virus in any of the training centres around the country. All of the 450 grooms screened for the virus at the Randjesfontein training centre in Gauteng last Saturday tested negative.

The NHA’s submission was comprehensive and importantly stressed that the public would be barred from the race courses and that all public gambling facilities like TAB and bookmaking outlets would remain closed. Only on-line betting would be allowed.

Andrew Harrison / Michael Clower

Image: Candiese Lenferna

Is Plan B being formulated should Phum fold?


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NOT looking very pretty at all !! I hope the powers that be ( Government & Coronis committee ) wake up pretty SOON before major damage is done & if not sorted out HORSE RACING in S.A. will face extinction .

A real stupid stance / decision they have taken, along with banning of CIGARETTES - ( I am a non smoker )

How much Taxes / VAT does the horse racing industry GIVE to our government annually - with sales plus betting taxes - someone please GIVE FIGURES :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

Extremely sad state of affairs, NCCC doing well under circumstances with certain decisions but soundly lacking on the economic side of very important ones which impacts the livelihood in certain industries.

Cigarettes (I do not smoke either) should be made available and liquor like beers, ciders and wine (no hard tack) should be available via on line order only with delivery to your home. Govt getting their taxes and more people getting employed for deliveries.

Racing can and should have been given the go ahead to resume behind closed doors. Valid reasons to substantiate this comment already detailed on numerous threads.

The above is my opinion only.

It is now time for Gold Circle and Owen Hefer (Hollywood) to step in and take the bull by the horns to clean up this mess!!!

Perhaps a strong leader or very well-connected one can approach government for a DEFINITE ANSWER as to WHEN racing will resume - That's all that's needed - Then if there is at the worst a projected 3 month wait or best 1 month owners know what to do - Before this panic euthanasia story why not get an answer and then find economical solutions to the problem like spelling farms etc and use the RA money to feed the horses and grooms and destitute trainers(I'm certain there are a good few of those around) - Maybe calculate the bare minimum needed to feed a horse for that time and approach vets and ask them to give back to the industry that has given so much to them -
This end of the world mentality does not fly - When owners can buy a single horse for R6m and only race it in 3 years time then surely they can afford the basic feed and care for 3 months - Can these owners not step up and fund feed etc for some of the owner/trainers that might well be struggling more than most?
I think a new structure needs to be in place before Racing resumes as the old one with the same leaders has not worked for at least a decade or more - It will be a shame for Racing to start up during lockdown only to close a few months later when those that can, fearing eminent removal, sell everything of value left in the game just to enrich themselves. I'm sure there are many problems regarding feed and logistics but my experience with trainers is that they are very imaginative and resourceful but without an idea of how long they will be without races their hands are tied -

What is different between the shutdown now and the shutdown caused by horse virus many years back?