RA appointment of new CEO .

The Board of the Racing Association is delighted to announce the appointment of Natalie Turner to the role of CEO with immediate effect.

As informed in a previous communication, we suspended the recruitment process during the temporary closure of racing, which in turn led to Phumelela moving into business rescue.


With the resumption of horseracing and the injection of funding into Phumelela by Mary Oppenheimer Daughters (MOD) we decided to finalize the process.

Numerous applications were received and narrowed down to eight candidates all of whom were interviewed.

It was further narrowed down to two and Natalie stood out as the best person for the job. She joined the RA after completing her articles and holds a B. Com degree in Financial Accounting.

She currently manages Finance, HR and Administration. In addition, she oversees the transformation projects of The Thoroughbred Horse Racing Trust.

In the absence of a CEO she has impressed the Board with her business acumen and strong work ethic.

In the interest of transparency, the Board has agreed a package which includes an annual incentive bonus subject to the achievement of various objectives documented in her performance contract.

The performance contract will be agreed by the Board before the end of July and be posted on the RA website for members to access.

Acting Chairman Brian Riley wrote that he trusted the industry would join him in congratulating Natalie and wishing her every success in her efforts to protect the interests of horseracing and improve the enjoyment experience for members.

All the best, especially during these difficult times 👍

Best wishes to her.
I nevertheless find it amazing that they are already talking performance bonuses when the industry is on life support.
Seems they can always find the funding to pay senior managment; yet stakes.....not so much.
I would hope that the performance bonus mirrors whatever percentage stakes are increased by in the next while. She does supposedly head up an association which, so I am told, is purported to represent owners' interests.

Garrick, nothing wrong with having to earn the higher Salary buy it being incentivized?

Good luck to Natalie

.....not really left field....promoted from within.....she was their financial manager.....

This appointment speaks volumes as to the direction that the new kids on the block are following. I do not know this Natalie Turner nor do I have any problem with her as an individual. What is clear is we have inherited a new bunch of "leaders" who also have their own agendas and do not communicate sufficiently with their mandate. Hands up all of you who know who is actually running Phumelela whilst this R700 000 a month plus perks "rescuer" is busy doing his thing? Hands up all of you who knows what is going on in the Western Cape now that MOD have shamefully evicted Robert Bloomberg? Hands up all of you who have felt any meaningful change in the interaction with racing stakeholders since the Oppenheimer money has come to the rescue? Have we replaced one problem with another?

So we now have the accountant who served under Larry running the show. Besides the obvious pandering to gender correctness, I can find no positives into this appointment. Were none of the 8 applicants short listed equipped to bring meaningful skills to an organisation that badly needs to throw off the stench of cronyism and lack of service to owners, and start change? I had a good chuckle at the inevitable whatsapp message going around wherein the opening message was " she knows where the bodies are buried". This was either a very calculated appointment designed to have an easily manipulated CEO pander to the Riley crew or it was a middle finger to all RA members and a case of same old same old from here forward.

My parting shot on this inanity is a prediction : The RA will cease to exist in the next 18 months.

No idea what’s happening, Bob has a contact on the numerous tote complaints, where we try to get replies.

Not sure if the new media platform are kept up to date.

The more things change the more they stay the same it seems. The previous CEO of the RA was not exactly known as the most forthcoming when it came to things that needed clarification. There are many examples that need explanation to members particularly the sectional timing and Supabets debacles. I would have hoped that the new broom at the RA, being the emissaries of the Oppenheimer Dynasty would at least be open and honest in their handling of matters that affect their owners.

In an article on Sporting Post on 22 July, it is announced that Ms. Turner is " a registered colour holder". That is true as we can see from the authorities to act registered on 21 July 2020 at the NHA. How convenient! I would love for all concerned, in the interests of transparency, to provide proof when the horses in the Azzie and Soma stable were partly or fully owned by Ms Turner - proof of purchase and monthly stable keep receipts should be simple to provide. Why I am so suspicious is we have seen this little charade recently and it concerns recently appointed NHA board member Rosevear, who was also listed as an owner when his board announcement was made, and also strangely enough, got listed on the NHA authorities to act list that same week. Also very convenient wouldn't you think?

Coming back to Ms. Turner. She was employed by the RA when staff members were allocated shares in racehorses to race in the Trilogy syndicate. It would be illuminating to find out if she were one of the chosen few to pick up this costly perk. If she was a member of the syndicate, and I am reliably informed that she was, what monies did she pay for her shares and the keep of these horses? If the horses were a perk, can she confirm that perks tax was paid for this "privilege"?

Here is the SP article I referred to : www.sportingpost.co.za/profile/ra-ceo-natalie-turner/

Please excuse the duplicate Authority to act listing, I am not the most tech savvy person around.

.....nothing wrong with spending a portion of a rather generous stipend to keep the game ticking over....:huh:

Name in lights

Just to keep you in the picture, we sent Humble Tune from Rathmor to Candice Dawson, as we stay in Pretoria and in addition she is a top class trainer.

Look forward to first run over the next few weeks .