I understand Hassen Adams has closed his private stable and moved about 20
horses to the Kruyer stable
D.Katz now out of a job and about 40 more empty stables
at Milnerton
Racing in Cape Town failing rapidly and nobody seems to care
Joey I believe off to Singapore and I hear another Trainer knocked on the door of Hong Kong
but will have to wait till next year
Elmer - to address your concerns (if indeed they are actually concerns) regarding Cape racing :
1.) Circumstances dating all the way back to the late 80's have placed Cape racing in the position in which it finds itself today. I won't labour the 'why?' points as they have been raised many times before & I don't want this post to run to 100 pages.
2.) The sport hasn't actually failed down here. Mostly it has contracted into a handful of major stables which happen to be rather successful at a macro level. The victims of this development have been smaller yards and the so called 'middle market' owner. Assuredly a most unhealthy situation.
3.) I count myself amongst the 'middle market' and my impending final exit from racing is more to do with taxation than it has to do with racing. A combination of direct and, more particularly, indirect taxation has left me with insufficient funding to continue comfortably feeding racehorses. (eg Are you aware that if you get a rush of blood to the head and decide to buy a new car the % of the ticket price that represents all of the various taxes that are built in is an eye watering 42% on average ).
4.) Obviously the nett, inflation adjusted decline in stakes has also contributed significantly to '3' above. Few owners expect to make a profit out of keeping horses yet this has not stopped the breeding industry from endlessly implying that if you buy their horses it is 'next stop Dubai' and the pot of gold on offer there! The reality is that owners have become unwitting patrons absorbing almost endless and unsustainable losses. I guess that makes owners significant 'job creators'!
5.) It has now reached the point where I would rather donate R10k per month to the Horse Trust or SPCA if I want to productively support an animal. I fancy my donation will be better employed than keeping a racehorse and it might actually achieve some good and relieve some suffering.
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