BIGNIC wrote: I followed the thread with great interest Craig fact is this breeder whoever it is is not factually correct. He has never been in contact with me, why me because I bought her as a two or three time winner and at the time and for the period I owned her no one ever contacted me to buy her . I sold her to the current owners after her third win in Kimberley and therefore cannot vouch for negotiations after that.. What I can tell you I have seen the specific track (My company do a lot of construction on a coal mine in Ellisras and I stayed at a guest house near the track which is located next door to the local SPCA ) this track and I went to have a look to see what it is like was in a much better condition that the Vaal Sand or Kimberley tracks. I have never in my live attended an informal race (its not bush racing, it is not illegal ) .There is a lot of hypocrites that comment on this , for me it is interesting that while the NHRA named the horses whose paperwork was t up to date in terms of retiring the horse , there was no mention by them of horses that was neglected ( after all the SPCA) is next door?
All that is involved in racing know how difficult it is to find a forever home for horses and the expenses of taking care after racing of them( I got 5 of them on my small holding and it cost me around 10000 per month ) therefore if the horses are properly taken care of whats wrong with it?
How big a role do most breeders play in retired horses after racings careers? Is R20000 a realistic price for a 12 time winning mare ? I dont think so -at an auction what will you pay for a foal out of such a mare ?
In my opinion a lot of the people shouting the odds talk from a lay mans perspective deal with the facts , if they are properly taken care off they are still better off than those that end up at slaughter houses .
If you can't / aren't prepared to take care of them after they're finished trying to make money for you then rather put them to sleep to avoid having someone else running them into the ground in bush races. That's probably the more responsible route.
Having seen the track, did you report such activity to the NHA? Did you feel some responsibility to do so seeing as you were witness to something that is unregulated and/or bordering on illegal if gambling etc is happening? Or did you see an outlet where you could potentially sell horses on if they failed in the big hole?
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