The Last Outpost’s racing is braced for a last stand

Operator Gold Circle is in deep financial trouble as betting turnover falls and politicians plot a cash grab.

It was the great rugby player Tommy Bedford who coined the phrase “last outpost of the British Empire” to describe the province of Natal – now, of course, KwaZulu-Natal. It was an apt description at the time and in the context (more on that later), but it sure doesn’t apply these days.

All trace of “English” orderliness, decorum and liberalism that once marked the region as distinct from the rest of South Africa has long ago been swept away by corruption, neglect and violence.

Horse racing

Nonetheless, the epithet has still rung true, be it faintly, for horse racing in the province. Wherever they went in the world, British imperialists took horse racing and Natal proved to be very fertile ground for it.

Indeed, it was the premier racing centre on the sub-continent for many a decade – upholding tenets and traditions of the British game.

But that status, too, is crumbling.

Just two years ago, with Highveld and Cape racing in dire straits, KZN operator Gold Circle was looking relatively healthy, having taken the plunge to partner with a once-sworn enemy: bookmakers.

Hollywoodbets splashed the cash for naming rights of Greyville and Scottsville racecourses and the racing world felt at least one threat of financial distress had been averted.

But a letter to Gold Circle members this week, from chairperson Sadha Naidoo, painted a gloomy picture.

In the six months to 31 January 2023, the operator had a loss of R25.7-million, compared with a R5.5-million loss in the previous half-year.

Unsustainable

The main problem is betting turnovers have been in decline for years. Gross tote turnover is down from R480-million to R447-million, while the company’s operational costs have risen by R16.4-million and stakes have been pushed up by nearly R7-million.

The situation is unsustainable, says Naidoo.

Earlier in the week, Gold Circle mothballed Ashburton training centre and moved its handful of trainers to the larger Summerveld facility down the road.

Further cost-cutting will ensue. How safe is racing at Scottsville?

Another dark cloud on the horizon is a loony government idea to amend the provincial Betting Tax Act in order to slash Gold Circle’s share of the takeoff – and award itself the money, of course.

One is reminded of Rolling Stone magazine’s famous phrase: “[It’s] a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.”

Greg Bortz?

What’s to be done? Racing chat rooms are full of noise – including suggestions that Cape Racing’s celebrated saviour Greg Bortz be brought in to fix things. Well, Bortz is already on the Gold Circle board and will be contributing ideas, but he is unlikely to be quite so generous with his own money as he has been in Cape Town.

Another repeated call is for the Polytrack at Greyville to be scrapped. Punters reckon poly results are wildly inconsistent and deter betting. But it could be argued that at least meetings can be held, and turnover generated, when bad weather rules out turf action.

Alongside all this is the issue of a dwindling thoroughbred population, with meetings having to be cancelled due to too few entries – as expounded upon by Bortz this week.

The elephant in the room, of course, is a failing national economy. Things could be so much better in so many areas of national life if we had a competent government, one free of dead-end ideological handcuffs.

Tommy Bedford

Which reminds us of Tommy Bedford.

Addressing a cocktail party as captain of the Natal rugby team after an epic match against the rampant 1974 touring British Lions, Bedford greeted the Springbok selectors present – five died-in-the-wool Nat Party-aligned deplorables, who stubbornly refused to pick Natal players for the Boks even as the Lions were thrashing all and sundry (no Natalian was among the 30 players the panic-stricken selectors chose in that series).

Bedford, with 25 Bok caps, had long since fallen out with the rugby establishment over his stand for multiracial sport in South Africa. He said to the selectors: “I congratulate you on finally finding your way to Durban. Welcome, welcome to the last outpost of the British Empire. I think it’s ironic that Natal was put forward as the last hope (of beating the Lions). Ha ha! The last outpost of the British Empire is the last hope for South Africa!”

He then gave them a two-fingered salute as jaws dropped around the room. Tommy didn’t get another Springbok call-up, but his phrase “the last outpost” became an important part of the national vocabulary.

Those selectors were on the wrong side of history – just as ANC politicians are today.