STANDING WITH CHARL

The following has been posted on the SFRW site regarding a development due to the 'victimisation' of Charl for his forthright comments and questions (mind you, I have no hidden agenda & post out of sincere concern for Charl's plight brought on by articualting what most of us have been harping about for years... achieving very little!):

"Who would have thought that when we started this forum just over a year ago, that we would ever repair burnt bridges with Charl Pretorius? At that stage a war of words was raging between the barbarians and him, we could not have been more unlikely bed partners.

A lot can change in a year. Those of you that know Charl, will know that the crazy bipolar dutchman has steadily adjusted his views on horse racing, in particular the adminstration thereof, and we now find ourselves in a situation where we have very similar views. I believe that Charl is the most talented racing journalist that there is in South Africa, and this shows in the quality of the articles that grace his website. From an information point of view, he has no peers.

Scotfree was launched solely to give those of us who disagreed on the way racing was heading, a voice. The growth in popularity of this site has been phenomenal, far more successful than we ever could have imagined in our wildest dreams. It should be a clear indicator to the authorities that changes are neccessary and there is support for these changes. Charl has been ostracised by the authorities for the change in his stance. He relies on racing journalism to make a living, and without support from big brother, has taken a massive drop in his earnings. Coupled to that body blow, Moneyweb has decided to discontinue certain operations, one of them being Racingweb, one of the major reasons for this closure being the dire lack of racing industry support.

Scotfree has been a hobby, a very clear middle finger to the sites that banned us originally, but a clear evolution has occured, resulting in us becoming the voice against the abuse of racing that continues to take place, orchestrated by a select few in positions of authority. The reality of the situation is that none of the partners in ScotFree have any commercial interest in the site, and with the growth in popularity, some commercial ventures could viably be looked at. This will be the prime reason for amalgamating with Racingweb, to give Charl a busy forum to compliment his top class articles, and to be able to market that opportunity. Judging by Alexa numbers, this will blow the other racing sites out of the water in terms of popularity.

At this stage nothing is finalised. We are committed to sorting out the issues that we need to before the end of the year. The potential revenues earned will go to Charl to supplement the income he has lost due to the politics, to be fair, some losses due to his support of SFRW . More info will be given when a clearer picture emerges."

This is my comment on the above:


I also had a major issue with Charl; was big enough (humble) to make the move for 'peace'.

He is about the best journalist (not just racing!) around, and I hold him in high regard. One of the few who are not arse-sitting, desk top, ear to cell journo with 2nd hand experience reports!

Forget SFRW's byline; horseracing needs a mouthpiece that will challenge the current status quo without fear or agendas!

I say "Charl, we with you.... all the way!'

Let's change perceptions and start thinking out of the conditioned, blinkered race tracks!

To everyone else, let's look at the bigger picture... and mend burnt bridges for the sake of what we all love and enjoy; HORSERACING!