Flamingo Park Monday?

on th esubject of waiting for the bus

A very sexy good looking lady was living in a apartment on the 10th floor.of her building
one day she called the janitor because she had a problem.
when he arrived she told him when ever a bus passes in the street the apartment starts to vibrate and shake violently,
so he waited and a few buses went past but nothing happens, so she told him that if he stand in the bedroom he would feel it bettter,
so off to the bedroom they went, and again despite e few busses passing in the street nothing happenned, so she told him if they lie down on the bed he will definetly feel the vibratons, so they lied down and a few buses went pass and again nothing happened, so she said if they take thier clothes off they will feel the vibrations through their bodies so they took thier clothes off, something did happened but it was not the vibrations or a bus that went past, and then unexpectedly her husband runs in to the bedroom demanding to know what is going on? the janitor jumps up and says to him

"YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE ME BUT I AM WAITING FOR A BUS!!!!!!" (

I let slip the reason for todays meeting loss to the racingpost ()

sportingpost article

In yet another shocking embarassment of non-delivery for South African horseracing, the racemeeting scheduled for today at Flamingo Park has been postponed until next Monday 24 September. The reason? The bus didn’t pitch!

A similiar incident occurred earlier this year and word has it that Phumelela have resorted to their third bus company in as many years in desperation.

There is a simple structure in business called a performance contract and a workable contingency or plan ‘B’. The impact of non-delivery goes beyond the simple inconvenience to punters. There are other international punting options available, and by lunch-time today most would have forgotten that there was supposed to be a Kimberley meeting.

It is the damaging impact on the professional image of the game that hurts the most. We hear it all the time on the various forums that the game is run by idiots and whoever’s fault this was today, this image is reinforced. We are after all, not talking about a mission to Mars. It’s a bus to Kimberley, for goodness sake!

What about the loss of income and inconvenience to the owners and the trainers who support racing on the dusty plains of the Northern Cape for stakes that are hardly exciting?

Maybe poster Jack Dash sums it up best on the africanbettingclan forum : At some point it’s not everyone else’s fault. There was no earthquake or tsunami, the show can’t stop because it depends on a single bus, I don’t care who points fingers at who. Not the first time, or the 2nd, or …..By the way, when someone says heads should roll, it’s not some clerk somewhere…it should be the minister in charge. Maybe we can find someone who can ALWAYS find a bus. Sometimes we call that a plan B.

And now Monday’s Heritage Day stand-alone Cape meeting runs side-by-side with Kimberley. Who is going to guarantee a bus on a public holiday?
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RELEASED BY: Phumelela Gaming and Leisure Limited

The race meeting at Flamingo Park today has been postponed to next Monday after the bus that transports jockeys, apprentices, starting-gate handlers and officials from Johannesburg to Kimberley failed to arrive on time.
Normally the bus arrives at the Randjesfontein training centre at about 5am and then continues on to Turffontein to pick up the remainder of the 40-odd people that need to be transported to Kimberley for race meetings there.
“We alerted the bus company at about 5.30am that the bus had not arrived at Randjesfontein,” said Phumelela Horseracing Executive Patrick Davis. “A bus was then sent, but the bottom line is that it didn’t arrive in time to save the race meeting. Normally it’s a six-hour journey if they leave from Randjesfontein at 5am, but it’s much longer if the bus has to negotiate rush-hour traffic. Unfortunately we reached the point this morning when we ran out of time and there was no option but to postpone the meeting.”
Davis added that the transport arrangements had been confirmed with the bus company last Friday and that legal action may now be instituted against the company to recover the losses arising from having to postpone the meeting.
The fixture has been postponed in its entirety to the public holiday next Monday 24 September, when it will form a doubleheader with a Durbanville meeting in Cape Town.
Starting times of the races will have to be altered to dovetail with Durbanville and international races, and the revised times will be announced in due course.
Phumelela apologises to all stakeholders, including horsemen and horseplayers, for having to postpone the meeting and will again investigate all possible alternatives to attempt to prevent a repeat of this morning.
“Getting the necessary people from Johannesburg to Kimberley in time for race meetings is an ongoing concern and obviously we will review the whole situation in the wake of this morning,” said Davis.

I went to track at turf this morning at 7h10 the bus was there had they left then with out a half way stop of 30 min they would have been at tops a hour late! We arrive at kimberly around 11 30 on a normal monday so we could have raced. 45 min late at worst

1: sue them my arse (you hire a vehicle) unless there is a penalty clause then you sue nothing
2: why cant everyone make their own way there?
3: if kimberley is not viable commercially without this transporting in of resource then can it
4: I bet you that if the above was implemented then a drastic rethink would happen and LOCAL resource would miraculously appear, some jockeys would relocate, some local handlers would be found etc etc etc....they would race twice a week mmmmmm actually not a bad thing forcing their hand.

With the costs of the meeting why not charter a flight and ensure that costs are part of ther penalty clauses .............

A bus with wings.................lol

The Ngong bus is never late.....

http://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af194/bidahorse/NgongBus.jpg?t=1347877607

You lot can moan... I've come all the way from England and I'm sitting here in sunny Kimberley and was all set for a visit to the bosom of world racing at Flamingo Park only for it to be cancelled. Even had my partner's brother and his family coming along for the day.

I told my partner why racing had been cancelled... she said "No! (pause of a couple of seconds while she waits for me to say I'm joking which of course doesn't happen then...) Seriously?!?"... when I nodded to confirm she just started laughing which slowly became a fit of hysterics... sums it up perfectly really.

Very much hope the Shams had not planned on coming up today or if they were, had not got very far before receiving the news. Catch you guys next year then... assuming I come, I will make a definite plan to visit PE but... please try and sort out the weather for next year or get a 1000 extra fork pitchers employed!

Titch Wrote:

---

> The Ngong bus is never late.....
>
> i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af194/bidahors
> e/NgongBus.jpg?t=1347877607


( ( ( rolling around on the ground , clutching stomach

They seem to be trying to use as little bucks as possible to get the freakin transport in place, but "We will sue!"...........isn't that expensive?? So they are "after-the-fact" monkeys who will prefer spending a lot more bucks when this happens a few times in a row with different transport companies?? Just asking.

Would love to see if they actually do sue..............my guess is that they won't bother!!

Perhaps they will negotiate and the bus will get there at 4.45am next Monday.........

PS - i want to laugh, but i am actually a bit pissed off!!!!

can trainers owners and jockeys and all others who lose out on income and costs incurred sue phumelela ?any comment from larry?