A general view during the Horse Racing event at Kenilworth Racecourse in Cape Town. Picture: Gallo Images
There’s a new plan afoot – to make Hollywoodbets Kenilworth “one of the top five racecourses in the world”.
Cape Racing supremo Greg Bortz made this astonishing statement in a new video addressing racegoers ahead of Sunday’s return to the city’s racing HQ – following an interregnum of several months as the old venue underwent a major rebuild.
Bortz has been all-action, full of drive and ambition, since he and Hollywoodbets bought out Kenilworth Racing 18 months ago, promising to revive the fortunes of the game in Western Cape by shaking up the racing programme, offering participants significant incentives and uplifting the event experience.
So far, it seems to be working and some locals refer to the turn of events as “the Bortz Bomb”.
Even by the investment banker’s visionary standards, a global top five racecourse is positively telescopic. This is Ascot, Santa Anita, Longchamp, Flemington and Sha Tin territory.
“Our objective when we came in was to save racing. That’s changed now,” he says in the video. “We have more lofty goals; the ambition now is to turn Hollywoodbets Kenilworth into one of the top five racecourses in the world.”
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Step one on that journey is on Sunday when the first fixture at the “new” Kenilworth is staged, with the Grade 2 Cape Punters’ Cup topping a menu of five feature races.
Bortz admits things won’t be fully ready. “Where are we? A third of the way, maybe 40%,” he says.
“I’m expecting things to go wrong; I just can’t tell you what they are!”
He has been showing groups of stakeholders around the project and the reaction has been universally gobsmacked. Added to new catering and betting facilities are a new saddling ring, winner’s circle, a steakhouse, Padel courts and an auditorium for horse sales and music concerts.
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And, speaking of Flemington, one of the striking aspects of photos of the building site has been a series of ornate wrought-iron arches like those at the famous Melbourne Cup venue.
The principal racing focus this weekend will be on Turffontein and the Betway Summer Cup, but Sunday down south is also a significant moment.
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