In 3 months time there will need to be homes for a few hundred horses.
I feel for the owners at present who have good sand horses.The owners who recently bought more horses to support Kimberly have just lost their money.Most trainers won’t relocate as the horses won’t make it in any other center.Can imagine the amount of jobs to be lost.
3 months notice is not fair,there should be 1 year so people can restructure.Maybe they should have announced it months ago when they knew.
It’s a sad state as it’s not just about closing a course ...it is closing down racing in a province of the country.I wonder how many of them will stop betting on other centers.
My heart cries for all concerned with this from grooms to horses. Even those good sand horses .. 3 months to go then bye bye. Was it preventable? Who’s next on the chopping block? Any executives taking responsibility for this?
So why can't some of our big boys invest in a new tote system for Kimberly or invest in staff .. surely there must be enough staff to work in Kimberly from old chair wood, Milnerton,goshfortpark,..?
why don't gold circle take over the running of the racecourse? surely the government can look at a bailout.. especially big job losses? if Eskom & SAA can get bailouts? let's have a business rescue for Kimberly too.
Just a few thoughts from my point of view, as an accountant. Phumelela say they made a R23,5million loss each year on Flamingo Park, this does not seem right to me. A heard a whisper, that at the meeting the trainers were told they were closing Flamingo, there were no annual financial statements given to them to prove this. Phumelela Gaming Leasure Ltd is a listed entity on the JSE, surely they must show the annual financial statements to prove this figure. If they can not prove it, then in my opinion Flamingo was run the same as any state-owned entity, and we all know what the state-owned entities are good at.....
There is a snake in the grass somewhere, something just does not click to me...
Another sad day as many people will be unemployed.Feel sorry for ZIETS who loved tipping and using this centre as he won many races on this track.Obviously a big dent for all concerned and the next question to the big boys, where to from here for all the guys trying to make a living after they pulled the plug.
I am aware everyone was not a fan of Flamingo Park racing.
However this announcement must have a devastating effect to the racing community of Kimberly.
I have no idea of quantity of horses, trainer's, owners, grooms and staff that will be stuggling in the next 12 weeks? Maybe Ziets can give us some accurate numbers.
Lets say 20 trainers with 20 horses plus raiders......400 horses ( to be fed or homed by owners and trainers that will be battling to feed themselves)
The staff, the grooms plus consider they have families, could be 500.
Club house, surrounding business etc
I am sure we always regard Kimberly as the end of the line for horses, so there is little chance of finding new homes?
Thoughts and prayers to all and hope some end plays or solutions can be found.
I am on record on ABC as having fought hard to avoid the closure of Vaal Sand. It is quite obvious, given the state of the Turf tracks in Gauteng, that the turf tracks cannot handle the racing that it currently has. So, it will be difficult to add extra meetings on Turf in Gauteng.
And the truth is that the lower stakes for the lower rated horses will be in demand in Gauteng, not only by the Kimberley Trainers.
The only way forward is a poly track for Gauteng. The only question is, "where will the funds come from, to construct a Poly in Gauteng?"
Wish there was such an uproar when the blood suckers closed Bloemfontein which was the biggest loss in the central region.
But typically, now that the horse has bolted everyone jumps up and down while in the past were cheering on Marcus, Rian, Larry and co. while the Jayes’ and Maselles’ who fought against this pillaging and rape, were discredited, ridiculed and ostracized.
You were warned but chose to be sheep or jumped on the bandwagon.
