Why South African horse racing needs saving

The emergence of new equine stars always lifts horse racing spirits.

When trainer Mike de Kock’s colt Hawwaam burst on to the scene in early 2019 and was ranked among the best racers in the world, the popular view was he could become a global champion and save South African racing.

Hawwaam blew it with his wild streak and now Justin Snaith-trained Do It Again is the brightest star in local racing’s heavens. If he wins the July for an unprecedented third time in 2020, perhaps he’ll be local racing’s saviour.

But why does racing need saving?

Stories of the game’s decline and predicted demise are nothing new.

Racing’s popularity has plummeted over the past three decades – as it has in most parts of the world where it is staged. But in recent years the sport has somehow managed to keep trundling along at a fairly even pace – amid much moaning about the good old days but with race meetings still happening, punters still punting, and owners still buying expensive bloodstock.

However, relative calm in the industry has been disturbed by news of leading Cape Town trainer Joey Ramsden upping sticks and relocating to Singapore, followed by master Joburg conditioner Mike de Kock setting up an advance base in Australia.

These are clear bearish signals about the future. The idea that a few good horses can offset such major losses to the game is far-fetched.

Then, this week, the country’s leading racing operator Phumelela, in concert with owner group the Racing Association, announced a 13% slashing of race stake monies.

They cited a fall in tote betting turnover and the Gauteng provincial government’s controversial withholding of a betting levy that had previously been recycled into the stakes pot.

Racing might be called the “sport of kings” but many of its patrons are not mega-wealthy. For instance, scores of “small” owners operate on the breadline, so to speak, managing to keep a few half-decent horses galloping and in oats – largely thanks to a trickle of stake money the animals bring in.

Many of these owners will fall away with this hefty chunk axed from stakes. Fewer owners means fewer horses, fewer races, less punting and so on – leading to less demand on the breeding side. Which, in turn, means less employment, less tax revenue etc.

At last count there were up to 200,000 people working in the industry. Laying off that lot is too ghastly to contemplate, as someone said in the bad old days.

A racing community that has for many years been searching for answers to arrest the decline is now sounding desperate. Suddenly there’s a lot more writing on the wall. Forums are full of anguished cries for help – not to mention venom for powers-that-be. In the case of Phumelela, a JSE-listed company, a few wealthy shareholders are prime targets for flying rotten tomatoes.

For its part, Phumelela, which runs the tote, has for years accused licensed private bookmakers of not contributing enough to the running of racing. It’s a fight that long ago turned toxic.

In 2018, R3.9 billion was wagered on horse racing on the tote and R7.68 billion with bookmakers. Much of the latter sum was made up of takings on “open bets”, not fixed-odds wagers – a point of much contention between the rival betting operations.

Gauteng’s withholding of its levy on pools has resulted in the bookies’ contribution to racing’s running costs being reduced to zero, argues Phumelela.

With corruption-devastated government needing every rand it can find, racing can’t rely on that levy coming its way again.

Astute industry observers are pointing out that some sort of rapprochement and accommodation between operators and bookmakers is long overdue and would be good for everyone.

Why is more money wagered with bookmakers? Could their superior service and digital nimbleness not be utilised? What is it that punters – the bedrock of the game – really want? Shouldn’t the satchel men be willingly ploughing more of their profits back into a game they live off?

The common enemy is decline – thanks to other betting types, sports betting, outdated facilities, blanket TV coverage of all sport, animal rights action, and myriad other factors – so a unified front in adversity would seem to be a wise course of action.

A few equine heroes might help, too.

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