Horse Racing South Africa 2020 Season

I read somewhere on ABC that Sandy Christie, former boss in racing, used to personally inspect the toilets in the Silver Ring by running his hand over the toilet bowl before the gates opened on race days.

I miss the curry and rice that used to be served up at Gosforth Park. I miss the t/bones that were served up at Turffontein.

The concrete in the Big T public parking is not conducive to ladies’ high heels.

The minimum decimals on the tote need to be reduced from 0.10 to say 0.02.

I want a horse to be declared a non-runner if he is euthenised on the course.

A clansman above mentioned reducing the takeout which could generate a bigger turnover. Read Clem Sumter’s “The Casino Model”.

The servitude that’s used on big race days is not exactly inviting to Miss Public.

How do we compete with the casino whose takeout on roulette is less than 3% but the tote’s takeout is between 16% and 25%. The tote needs another marketing strategy.

Please can we have high HD Tellytrack.






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I also think there needs to be a meeting with National Treasury or whomever to swop the taxes between horses and other events.


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Thats also a point Mac 6% tax on the horses and nil on sports bets i am sure this was supposed to be addressed?

What gets me is the horse racing newspapers and newsletters. They still live in the '60s. They suck up all PR announcements by the bodies that manage the sport and are happy with that. No real piercing questions are ever asked in the news. Watch ENCA for a week and see how they push for transparency and maybe get some answers to some very concerning rumours doing the rounds and questions posed on this site?

Close the RA.
Retire Larry Wynberg
De -List P and create a new body that is designed to manage SA racing and its gambling divisions.
TAB priority Number 1. Included here negotiations with Government Entities
Owners, Grooms and Trainers Number 2 included here Transformation ( what does that mean)
NHRA and its guidelines approach Number 3. They are fcuking up as they go and need to be brought to book ASAP
Sponsorship agreements Number 4 Included here Bookies Online and Physical entities, Large Corporations,
AHI to me is not a high priority in light of all the other issues we face. needs to be addressed but is not the main engine so can wait a while.

Shane yep but the dividend policy, and I would love to know who made that up.. raped this sport of how much money I have asked so many times now with no answers.. sucked it dry.. where are those guys now?

My two-cents worth:

- Decorporatise Phum and merge Gold Circle and Phum
- Form separate bodies to run horse-racing and sports betting (each with different taxes)
- These should be regulated by the National Gambling Board and not by the Provincial Boards
- Horse Breeding and Sales should be regulated
- NHRA should be a separate body funded by the Govt and should be fair and consistent in their rulings
- Dissolve the RA as it serves only the interests of Phum
- Prevent bookies from taking open exotic bets on racing as this is shrinking the tote pools
- Make the P6 bet a must win bet (e.g. payout even if a person has 5/6 winners)
- Make racing fun again but targeting the right audience (not the party people) and make the horse the centre of the fun. I was shocked at this years Durban July when I did not get to see any races as there were no large screens to view the races!!

Frodo i agree with you 100%...

Matter of fact, i had an issue with the tote. After the "Sh#t hit the fan" i was informed that should there be any issues please contact us and we will help you (not word for word but you get the idea).

An email was sent to the direct email, not a "support@ or info@ etc". This was on on the 24th July 2019 i guess i wont have the opportunity to let you down and say i have not heard even a murmor from them. Not even an acknowledgement of receipt.

I then sent a message to another (who i tend to understand is still an employee of quite a high rank, but could honestly be mistaken) person, not even a murmor from them either...

At times i have sent a message to a bookie and besides getting a response, i have an agent calling me to ensure my query had been resolved.

Why should i have to deal with the tote when they charge me a lot more than my bookie, yet my bookie wipes his arse with their service?


2 things i would love to know-


1- When last did the "ALL MIGHTY" sitting on their golden throwns receive an increase?

2- When last did the "ALL MIGHTY" sitting on their golden throwns recieve an annual bonus?

Karma, unfortunately your story rings true for many others - and imo that's one of the main reasons why Racing is in the trouble it is.

They have also now succeeded in getting even less from me - as they have now abandoned the 'rolling double' - a bet that I always relied on to cover my JP or P6 selection should I somehow survive until the last 2 legs - now I know that the reason they put forward is that there was not interest in the bet - but imo there will be even less interest in the 'daily double' that they have now introduced - why would I take a double on races that have been 'prescribed' to me - especially if one of the legs comprise of some race in the UK or France ?

I tend to view racing in black and white from the viewpoint that there are, simply put, givers and takers in the game. In my opinion there are only two categories of givers and those are owners and punters. The rest are all takers as they are employed and paid for their services. Without owners and punters there would be not one taker left in the game, this is logic.

Why is it then that the givers, who are the backbone of the industry, are absent in all decision making and structures?

OTA very well said bud and thats not going to go on forever.