Tony Mincione wrote: The Phumelela publications ban has metastasized to the Cape.
Racing is dying. Tracks close, branches close, tote turnover is shrinking... and Phumelela's answer is to put pressure on other racing publications in the name of fair competition.
Who thinks that extinguishing the last vehicles of racing information is a good idea? It is impossible to believe this is not an instruction from the top and so it is the official strategy. You may wonder how a company which has a state mandated monopoly and a R5 billion t/over decides that it's cool to go for small independent businesses within their monopoly footprint. You would be right to wonder.
Any SA internet site or publication that is full time horse racing is done on passion. Racing is not growing, and horse racing as we know it has no idea how to cultivate new interest from the next generation.
I cannot believe that this is what people in the Western Cape want, and I can't believe it's what the leadership want. Fewer options is never what a customer wants. Then why would you let your management company take another step to squeeze the life out of racing? How does killing publications save or enhance the sport?
It's a disgrace. People, you get the government you deserve and if we carry on like this then we deserve nothing less. Racing desperately needs a change of attitude because some things just have to be done for the love of the sport or it cannot survive. Owners and punters know that often they will lose money doing this, and yet we do it anyway.
When your response is bash or destroy things... then you have no idea what a win-win is, and banning publications is what autocrats and depots do, in other words thugs.
Very simply put - Racing thrived when it was fighted on National TV regularly... was given airtime on Radio daily and was given a dedicated page in most newspapers - The less exposure it got the smaller it's reach - Killing publications that COST the operator nothing to produce but keep the product alive is insane... Rather spend efforts to get more exposure rather than trying to get less by killing FREE SPEECH PUBLICATIONS that do not print His Master's Voice and proclaim Racing to be in the best place ever - The Breeders spend a great deal of money advertising in the Sporting Post and that obviously gives them returns - now if the aim is to kill this paper where will ppotential owners go to get sales info and pen pics of foals on sales etc (not the Citizen surely) ? Was this even considered?
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