Cape Racing’s latest rule heats up a simmering pot

Cape Racing has adopted a new rule banning any horse under investigation by the National Horseracing Authority (NHA) from racing on its two racecourses.

This has added heat to a simmering row over what constitutes “doping” and whether certain people should be allowed to race wherever they like in South Africa.

The wording of the new rule is: “Any horse, which is the subject of a pending or ongoing NHA investigation or inquiry at the time of final declarations, SHALL be precluded from accepting.”

Cape Racing has lodged this new local rule with the National Racing Bureau (NRB) and says it became effective on Monday 18 September.

‘Protect our horses’

Cape Racing chairman Greg Bortz commented: “As stated publicly on numerous occasions, Cape Racing is committed to upholding and preserving the reputation of horse racing in our country, and we believe that this local condition will contribute meaningfully in this regard. Cape Racing will continuously seek new avenues to protect our horses and enhance the sport of horse racing in South Africa. We will lead by example.”

One of the occasions Bortz refers to was a recent speech of his in which he said he was convinced South African racing had a doping problem and Cape Racing was considering ways to ban people and horses it believed were guilty of wrongdoing.

Significantly, he was reported to have said that if other racing jurisdictions in the country did not agree with his zero-tolerance stance there would be a line drawn between racing jurisdictions. There should be a unilateral declaration of war against “those that cheat”.

These strong words were followed by the revelation that Bortz was the driving force behind the NHA’s sudden adoption a few weeks prior of a new rule to ban injections into the joints of horses in the week before racing. This had been a long-standing and widely used medical procedure, albeit frowned upon by some for potentially damaging a horse’s joints by letting it to race pain-free when injured.

Shots fired

Next, Highveld racing operator 4Racing and NHA CEO Vee Moodley discussed Botz’s comments and a press release said: “Mr Moodley affirmed that his stance on the matter … remains unchanged: ‘Any horses barred from entering any racing jurisdiction in the country cannot be excluded based on NHA rules, unless such action originates from the NHA itself.’”

Did Cape Racing’s new local rule originate from the NHA? Is this a line being drawn between jurisdictions? No-one is saying, but we can expect more shots fired across bows in coming days.

The welfare of the horse is paramount. At least that’s something we can all agree on and perhaps it’s a starting point for discussion.