I was somewhat shocked & disappointed when I saw the final fields for ‘Guineas Day’ at Kenilworth on December 15th.
There are 5 feature races on the day yet a total of only 52 horses (at this stage) will be turning out to contest them.
The Guineas has attracted a paltry 9 acceptors and represents only 7 yards
The Premier Trophy also has only 9 acceptors representing 7 yards
The Victress Stakes has managed 10 runners representing 5 yards!
The South Easter Sprint also only 10 runners representing just 6 yards
The Fillies Guineas has attracted a comparatively huge field of 14 representing 9 yards
Although the size of the field does not necessarily dictate the quality of the race it does impact negatively on betting turnover when fields are this small.
Normally the knee jerk reaction is to ‘blame’ apathetic Cape trainers for failing to nominate and compete. But there are other considerations at this time of year :
Outside of Sean Tarry & Mike De Kock there is little to be seen of the Gauteng trainers. Likewise the Durban yards. Regarding the latter region it is not unfair to conclude that they have virtually ceased to exist as a centre which produces top horses. At the very least they boast few horses worth travelling.
The other issue which I believe plays no little role in discouraging travel is the prize money on offer when measured against the expense of raiding.
Since I came into racing in the early 1970’s I have always monitored Graded race stake money against the cost of an S Class Mercedes Benz; simply because this vehicle has been uninterruptedly available since that date and is a far more accurate gauge of ‘what things cost’ than the nonsense indicators put out by government.
Going back to 1978 an ‘entry level’ S Class 280 SE cost R11,000. In that year the Richelieu Guineas was contested for a prize of R60,000. So theoretically you could have bought 5,45 entry level S Class Mercs from the total prize money.
Today an entry level S Class (with no options selected) will cost R1,465,000. The prize money for the Guineas is R 1,000,000. That will buy about 2/3rds of one car. If stakes had kept pace the prize money on offer should have been in the region of R8,000,000 for this race next Saturday.
We all know the fans and, increasingly, more trainers have largely departed. How long before many of the remaining owners follow them? It’s all very well supporting racing as a ‘hobby’ (except at sales time when it miraculously turns into an ‘investment’ according to the industry spin doctors) but eventually the almost endless flushing away of money -with little chance of just breaking even- loses its appeal.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Andycap, Pirhobeta
If efforts at growing the income of racing (punting) matched the growth ratio Garrick is referring to things would've been different for purse figures.
to much money paid to Phumelela Shareholders. not enough re invested into Horse racing.
not sure it would have helped keep up with Inflation but may have closed the gap slightly.
some really poor directors at Big P over the years and even worse at RA/ racing trust and NHRA that could have helped steer the business in a better direction.
me thinks the move by Moodley to NHA could be a sign that Big P are about to pull out of horse racing or at least hand over operations to another entity.
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