Festival curtain-raiser ‘just the beginning’ of Cape resurgence

Field sizes in Western Cape racing are growing healthily – proving that the revamp and recapitalisation of the province’s horse racing scene is a lot more than a lick of paint.

Justin Vermaak, head of racing operations at Kenilworth Racing, reveals that in October 2022 average field sizes grew from 8.3 per race to 10.7.

So far, in November, the number has risen further to 12.7 and is likely to keep climbing as the summer season and, in particular, the Summer Festival of Racing gathers steam.

This uptick will be greatly aided by the galaxy of top visiting trainers from Joburg and Durban heading for the Cape and some much-enhanced spoils.

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Raiders from upcountry have claimed a few minor prizes in recent weeks but were not at anything like full strength at the first meeting of the Festival on Saturday.

Indeed, the local training bullyboys were completely dominant – Justin Snaith annexing four of the eight races, Brett Crawford two and Glen Kotzen the other two.

It was a sharp reminder to the likes of Mike de Kock, Sean Tarry and Dennis Drier that their hosts will not be very welcoming when it comes to the hard yards and the hard cash.

New-old name at Kenilworth

One welcome new-old name at Kenilworth was Ricky Maingard, drawn from Mauritius back to one of his old stamping grounds by the huge financial stimulus.

Maingard, the training mastermind behind such luminaries of the past as Wolf Power, managed a second place on Saturday – just to keep the locals on their toes.

A game changer in bigger field sizes has been a major boost in prize money – massive hikes for feature races and as much as 100% for maiden plates.

Another has been the decision by Cape Racing to pay owners R2,500 per runner – acknowledging their value to “the show”.

Then there has been a reorientation of the race programme, with more logical progressions for young horses.

Yet another innovation is subsidisation of the travel and lodging – not to mention winning bonuses of up to R50,000 for visiting stables.

“The response to all the changes has been tremendous, from across the industry,” comments Vermaak. “And it is only just the beginning.”

Racegoers at Kenilworth on Saturday will have seen and felt the changes – from that lick of paint to newly working lifts and elevators, dining areas and betting facilities, which include a full branch of Hollywoodbets, one of the major partners in chairman Greg Bortz’s big shake-up.