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Picture : Vee Moodley, CEO of the National Horseracing Authority (NHA)

Vee Moodley clarified the meaning of the recent press release about operators’ capacity to bar industry stakeholders from participating in their jurisdiction.
 
He said operators had the right to make their own rules about who could or who couldn’t race in their jurisdiction, but they were not allowed to use NHA rules to make these rules and neither could they make rules that were in direct conflict with NHA rules.
 
He said, “For argument’s sake they won’t be allowed to bar a jockey who has struck his horse more than 12 times in a race from riding in their jurisdiction, because that jockey has already been punished under NHA rules, so the barring would be double punishment. Neither would they be allowed to bar a jockey who has struck his horse more than ten times in a recent race from riding in their jurisdiction, because that would be in direct conflict with NHA rules (which allows a jockey to strike his mount a maximum of 12 times).”
 
He said if operators made up their own rules barring stakeholders from participating and those rules were outside of NHA rules or not in conflict with them, the victims would then have the avenue of approaching the courts of the country to challenge the rulings.
 
He provided a recent example in which Gold Circle restricted satellite yards, in terms of its stabling policy, to a maximum of 20 stables and no maidens nor horses with a merit rating of less than 76 were allowed in the yards.
 
Those rules do not relate to any NHA rule, so the NHA were  powerless to oppose the ruling.
 
However, the merit rating restriction might possibly have been in conflict with free and fair competition, so the victims might have been able to take the case to court.
 
State veterinarians are also able to bar horses from competing in certain jurisdictions in the case of an African Horse Sickness outbreak. The NHA are powerless to oppose their rulings.  
 
The reason the clarification was required is because some stakeholders were not a hundred percent clear about the meaning of the recent press release, which stated:
 

To all racing stakeholders

NHA Assurance

In response to the speech delivered by Mr. Greg Bortz, the Executive Chairman of Cape Racing, on September 1, 2023, at Kenilworth Racecourse, during which he mentioned the potential barring of certain stakeholders from participating in races at Kenilworth and Durbanville racecourses:

Executive management, senior leadership and stakeholders of 4Racing have received numerous enquiries regarding the veracity of Mr. Bortz’s statement.

In light of the above, a meeting was convened between Mr. Charles Savage, Chairman of 4Racing, Mr. Patrick Duff, Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Gabriel Soma, Head of Racing Operations and Mr. Vee Moodley, the CEO of The National Horseracing Authority. This meeting followed a telephonic discussion between Mr. Moodley and 4Racing’s CEO, Fundi Sithebe, to gain clarity on Mr. Bortz’s comments.

Mr. Moodley affirmed that his stance on the matter had been conveyed to the 4Racing Executive team prior to the speech and remains unchanged: “Any horses barred from entering any racing jurisdiction in the country cannot be excluded based on NHA rules, unless such action originates from the NHA itself.”