Stalwart Cape Racing racecourse manager Dean Diedericks and his team have been taking every measure possible to ensure the Hollywoodbets Durbanville Heritage Day meeting goes ahead on Saturday.
Diedericks, Sluit Machines And Tents Vs Cape Rains
Cape Racing have turned around the fortunes of their jurisdiction in a manner that seemed inconcievable just over a year ago and their latest innovation, covers on a race track, caused another wave of pleasant surprise coupled with widespread praise from the racing community.
Greg Bortz was behind the idea to cover a problematic 100m section of the Hollywoodbets Durbanville track.
Track manager Dean Diedericks and his team spent four hours yesterday (Wednesday) erecting hired bedouin tents in an effort to ensure Saturday’s important Heritage Day racemeeting goes ahead.
They finished the operation at 8 p.m. last night (Wednesday).
The bad patch has compromised a couple of recent meetings and, like a cricket pitch, becomes unplayable when receiving too much rainfall.
Dean said, “It’s the only alternative we had. Ingenious thinking out of the box, obviously by Greg Bortz.”
The tents appear to have done the job and Dean said, “I can’t tell you what is happening under the ground, but there is certainly no water coming through from above. There is certainly no rain falling on the track in that section and it is raining now as we speak (Thursday morning).”
The below pictures are courtesy of the Sporting Post
Dean said the covers idea was made just with Saturday’s meeting in mind, but would always be an idea that could be used again going forward.
He added, “The amount of rain we have had has been crazy, I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. We’ve had record rains and the forecast for next week is not great, it is like winter isn’t stopping.”
He said the problem area on the bend had originated from upgrades done to the track seven years ago.
He said, “It is a new portion of the track. For want of a better explanation, they wanted the bend to be wider, so they cut into the bank. We suspect there is water coming from underneath as well because of the natural gradient of the site.”
The toil from Dean and his team is with the aim of keeping that problematic area “as water free as possible.”
There are earth drains on either side of the track and last Friday Dean hired a machine to deepen the sluits.
He said, “I went as deep as I could with the machine. The outside sluits are now three to four metres deep, so there is no way any water is spilling on to the track anymore.”
He added, “Obviously surface water from the rainfall has also been impacting on the area, but there has been a definite improvement since the sluits have been deepened.”
Dean said a problem with the clay in the soil composition at Hollywoodbets Durbanville leading to the track being slippery when wet was solvable, but added it was not easy to implement such solutions while racing fixtures were happening.
Hollywoodbets Durbanville is going to have an extended season due to building renovations at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth and there is also on-going spring treatment at the Hollywoodbets Kenilworth track.
The meeting at Hollywoodbets Durbanville on Saturday is going to be full of family fun and will run from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m.
The racing will be accompanied by braaing and other activities as well as a potje pot competition in which the winners will earn a share of R25,000 prize money.
S’Manga Khumalo has been at the centre of two controversies in the last two Highveld meetings. There is an inquiry into an incident on Saturday in which the horse Back In Business bolted with him aboard before being withdrawn by the veterinarian surgeon. The inquiry followed an official complaint by the connections. Today Khumalo was standing out of the saddle when the starter let the field go for the first race. Unconfirmed reports had it that he was given time to get in the saddle after saying he was not ready and he gave no subsequent command to wait. (Picture: Gold Circle)
Drama At The Vaal Start – TabGold, Tab4Racing, HWB And Others Give Refund
There was widespread astonishment when She’s A Klawer was not declared a non-runner after the running of the first race at the Vaal Classic track today (Thursday) as she jumped without the rider, S’Manga Khumalo, in the irons.
However, the stipendiary stewards might just have been applying the rules.
TAB4Racing is refunding all Win, Place, Swinger, Exacta, Trifecta and Quartet bets on Number 4 She’s A Klawer in Race 1 at the Vaal today in which she was included.
Jockey S’manga Khumalo, who was carded to ride She’s A Klawer, was not in the saddle when the start was effected. The National Horseracing Authority stipendiary stewards declared She’s A Klawer a runner, but in light of the circumstances TAB4Racing is refunding Win and Place bets on the filly, as well as the relevant portions of Exacta, Swinger, Trifecta and Quartet wagers in which she was included.
TAB4Racing accountholders will be automatically refunded. Retail customers wishing to claim refunds must submit a claim form at a TAB outlet if they have discarded their tickets.
Customers needing assistance can call Customer Care on 0861 444 822.
Meanwhile, Hollywoodbets decided to scratch the horse and at the same time have no deduction on the winner, meaning losing punters were refunded while those who had benefited from the official stipediary decision, by being paid out without any deductions, were not affected.
Hollywoodbets has made a decision to treat She’s A Klawer as a scratching from race 1 at the Vaal today, after the Chris Jonker filly had literally no chance of competing with her jockey out of the saddle and a handler holding her bridle as the gates were sprung.
A spokesman for Hollywoodbets said that they felt that it was only fair and sporting to treat the filly as a non-runner without deductions, thereby ensuring a full refund for all of their customers who wagered wins, multiples, places, and other open bets. Notwithstanding the starting price of the horse at 5/1, which would have resulted in a 20% deduction on a normal scratching , the scratching with no deduction was done so as to not prejudice any other winners.
Ormond Ferraris was critical of the ROA in an open letter to the Sporting Post and the latter sent an explanatory reply
Ormond Ferraris’ Open Letter To The ROA And The Latter’s Reply
Never a dull moment in South African racing.
Ormond Feraris has written an open letter to the Racehorse Owners Association (ROA) and sent it to the Sporting Post for publication.
The letter begins:
I noted with some alarm the comments made by Mr. Bortz about the discrepancies in the due diligence performed on the ROA, and request him to make these discrepancies public, as they clearly are in the public interest, and furthermore such material and important allegations should not be made without any substantiation thereof, as they lead to gossip and conjecture.
In my opinion, the ROA no longer has any relevance to, nor purpose in, the current structure of horse racing in South Africa.
The ROA have responded to the letter.
There response begins:
Mr Ormond Ferraris’ letter which he wrote as a life-member of the Racehorse Owners Association (ROA) to the Sporting Post is a mixture of opinion, conjecture, truths and misconceptions in relation to the ROA.
Perfection runs in the feature at Fairview tomorrow (Pauline Herman Photography).
Fairview’s Friendly City Stakes Preview + Meeting Formguides And Selections
Nelson Mandela Bay Racing (Henk Steenkamp)
1 12:45 PM – Betway Tote Rewards Club Maiden Plate
Watch out for: LORD NELSON (2)
Isivunguvungu’s Niece Is Born Out In The Sunshine
The Peter Muscutt-trained Narrow Creek Stud-bred Equus Champion Sprinter Isivunguvungu was named by former Sprinbok winger Odwa Ndungane and the name means “storm”.
So it was somewhat Ironic when the gelding’s niece was born this week out in the sunshine at Narrow Creek.
Querari mare Bat Of Out Of Hell is a half-sister to Isivunguvungu and gave birth to the above Rafeef filly in the paddock on September 18.
Isivunguvungu’s dam Miss Tweedy is by Tiger Ridge and won three times from 1400m to 1600m.
She in fact won on debut over 1400m, so would not have been viewed as the same out and out sprinting type Isivunguvungu is.
So Isivunguvungu obviously gets his sprinting speed chiefly from his Equus Champion sprinter sire What A Winter.
Bat Out Of Hell won two races over 1200m.
Rafeef won the same Gr 1 Jonsson Workwear Computaform Sprint that Isivunguvungu won, so that augurs well for this filly foal.
Stunning Vercingetorix Ex Kay Tee Perry Colt Born At Maine Chance
Mxoli Treble And Yeni, Dawson and Matchett Doubles
Philasande Mxoli rode a treble at the Vaal Classic track today, two of them for his guv’nor Paul Matchett and one of them for Candice Dawson, who also had a double on the day.
Muzi Yeni rode a double on the day to extend his lead in the SA Jockeys Championship.
Yeni goes to 46 wins for the season, achieved at a strike rate of 19.91%, and he is now 14 wins clear of second-placed Richard Fourie.
Mxoli is on 16 wins at 17.39%.
Matchett is on 17 wins at 19.54%. He has had the joint most number of wins this season together with Tony Peter.
Dawson has had three wins at 7.69%.
Today’s Question
Who is the highest Timeform rated sprinter in history?
