Chaotic gallop out of the old year

Racing in South Africa has rightly been celebrating a good year in 2024, with green shoots of the game’s rebirth obvious everywhere. But a misstep reminds us that recovery is a delicate balance.

A sobering moment came, ironically, on a festive New Year’s Eve with a calamitous race meeting at the Vaal racecourse.

Most people have their brains in “park” gear at this time and goofing off is a natural instinct. And that’s why a few watchful people need to be on sentry duty. Devilish forces could materialise – and did on the sleepy Free State banks of the Vaal River on Tuesday.

An ambulance on duty is crucial

The start of the meeting had to be postponed as there was no ambulance on the scene. There’s a chestnut about jockeys having the only job that has an ambulance following them in their daily work. So, no ambulance, no racing.

A medical doctor and a nurse were there – but not the wheels to convey the casualties.

Operator 4Racing has a contracted service provider supplying ambulances and paramedic staff at all its Highveld fixtures, at Turffontein and the Vaal.

In a press release, 4Racing explained: “The service provider was furnished with the full fixture list for the current race season. Additionally, 4Racing communicated race times for this meeting once declarations were completed.

“The above is standard operating procedure … to ensure all race day logistics are thoroughly planned and executed smoothly.”

Medical staff must sign in with a duty officer an hour before the start of racing. That’s when Tuesday’s officer sounded the alarm. A phone call established that a key assignment had slipped someone’s mind.
Horses were at the start for Race 1 at 12:50 when hapless officials were forced to postpone until 14:15.

Failure to meet contractual obligations

“This delay is solely attributable to the service providers’ failure to meet their contractual obligations, and it is extremely frustrating for 4Racing, our teams, and our loyal supporters,” said the release, adding “…we will be addressing this matter with service provider and further communication will follow.”

If anyone has an ambulance lying idle, it’s a good time to put in a bid.

Just as sleepy normality seemed to settle on the riverside, jockeys complained that the Vaal’s track grass hadn’t been cut short enough for their liking.

Races 6 and 7 were abandoned due to jockeys refusing to continue racing, citing safety concerns over long grass in the pull-up area.

Officials measured the grass and said its 105mm green shoots (the sort of growth that’s cheered us up in 2024) were consistent with the rest of the track. The jocks were not moved, however, so everyone packed up and went home to get dolled up for their New Year’s Eve bashes.

Racing media are often called out for being negative about the state of the game, but unless gross incompetence is highlighted it’ll continue.

Indeed, 2024 has been a wonderful year – the rescue of Gold Circle, the opening up of equine export, the heroics of jockey Richard Fourie, the improvement in employer-groom relations and the emergence of new stars like Quid Pro Quo being glittering highlights – but the Vaal shenanigans show how fragile a propped-up edifice remains.