Flamingo Park to close 9 December

Comment from Corrie Lensley’s partner on my Facebook post

“ A very sad day for all of us here at Flamingo Park.
Last night my heart broke when I dropped the staff at their accomodation and all the little kids ran to greet me as usual. I could not help but worry about them.
This morning our stables are so morbid. The staff are stressed and depressed.
I try to motivate them; however many of the staff were born here, most of the others have their families close by and now we get 3 month's notice.
It is not just pack up and go.
How do they move their kids and find schools within 3 months?
We have women grooms working for us, they are excellent workers, will Phumelela accommodate them in already over crowded accomodation?
Their husbands and partners work for the club and other stables.
The track closes on 9 December, just before Christmas.
We have 68 horses, many of them sand horses that did not make it on the turf, how do you rehome all of them...? I cannot even think of putting them down.
Owners already contacted us, worried about how many stables we will get and if we will be able to keep their horses.
Many trainers have lots of stable cats, dogs, chickens, etc....
We also support a lot of suppliers here in town. We all buy the horses food from GWK, they buy and stock huge amounts of racehorse feed, maize, etc.
The local vets are loosing a lot of business, farmers who supply us with lusern, teff oats etc. The list goes on.
This is a devastating loss for the community!
We are all very sad; however the show must go on.... and we have to get up and make our plans very fast and see how we can save as many jobs as possible and do what's best for our horses and start building from scratch.
Life goes on!
The board has spoken!

Dave Scott wrote:

Mac wrote: When did Kimberley racing start?


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Mac cant remember but did it not take over from Bloem at the time?

No. In the 80’s Kimberley racing used to run on Saturday’s together with Bloem, PE, WC, Natal and BigT/Gosforth Park. That goes to show how racing has reversed since then.
Would really like to know the history. Cecil John Rhodes?


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I tried to "search" on ABC and found this over 8 years ago posted by scotia


“ As the operators continue to sell assets of the sport we love “where do we go from here”?



I am sure we all understand that money makes the world go round and I have also been involved in making harsh decisions (in my life) where the bottom line has to take priority over emotional feeling’s and in horse racing we clearly have two camps, so where and how can we reach a balance?



The one camp is the “operators” the other is the “purists”.



The operators are driven by turnover and the bottom line (like most business) and the purists want to watch the sport they love, preferably local.



My thoughts are that when a punter wakes up in the morning he has a fixed amount that he/she can wager for the day, whether it be a R100 or R1000 and no matter how much the Tellytrack presenters push the pool size at Ngong or some obscure harness meeting with no form, once he has done the “kitty” he has to switch off (unless he goes to dark places of desperation that we won’t visit for the sake of this post).



My input would be to reduce the numerous options to the punter and give them the best quality, with maximum form lines and information (including fixed odds betting) to “invest” his kitty and increase his chances of turning his money over and each time he places another bet the operators and industry is a winner, not forgetting the punter.



It would not need a brain surgeon to ascertain what is good and bad racing venues.



Naïve might come to mind when I make the next statement but I am a firm believer that if we look after the “sport” of horseracing the bottom line will look after itself.

Promote the sport, syndicates, etc. people will go racing if they have a share in a horse. I spoke with trainers in KZN who are trying to get owners in the game by introducing a low financial entry scheme and should be in motion soon, watch this space……………



Note! The word “invest” should not be used in racing and much rather go for “have fun racing and treat as a social event”.

Urbanite many of us fought against the regime taking the dividends year after year mate. Many of us were with the guys against it.
Believe me this is just the beginning, its not going to be the only closure. The way racing is modelled in SA is wrong, it makes a few rich. I try my best to at leat challenge it here and other areas but unfortunately nobody cares except for who's gonna win the next race and whats good to include in the quartet.
You right, it doesn't matter how sick it makes those feel once announcements are made, nobody is prepared to challenge.

PS ..were the unions negotiated with? it will also be interesting to see how the EFF takes this news.

“ My heart is broken. 40yrs dedication to this place what for in the end just to pull the carpet out under your feet. Will there be somebody out there to come to our rescue. I got my house paid for how at 62 will I get a house loan again and start all over not possible. A big thank you to my friend and top trainer for the advice and support going forward. What makes it worse is to put down some of my dear animals“.... Cliffie Miller

“Dis baie jammer & met hartseer harte , om almal mee te deel , dat FLAMINGO PARK na BAIE jare gaan toe maak 9 Desember '19 ..

My stalle gaan wel voort soos altyd, ek is sentraal geleë naby Turffontein & die Vaal (Durban is ook altyd n opsie om te gaan hardloop ), het my eie vervoer (lorrie) om die perde mee te vervoer ..

Gaan ons bes probeer om verdere sukses te behaal in die toekoms!

God sal nie 1 deur toe maak , as daar nie ander deure sal oopgaan nie .. ons glo & vertrou !

Sterkte aan almal wat van Kimberley af moet verhuis & van vooraf moet begin !” ... Bill Human Stables

Hartseer vir almal wat negatief beinvloed is. Sterkte!

....that's harsh.....could you not spare the salt.....:oops:

The truth is a terrible thing at times.

For years I didn't punt flamingo Mondays. It was only during a profit drought that I decided it was time to get a grip on Flamingo form reading about 3 years ago.

It took me two years to refine, but Kimberley has become a little cash cow for me and as we stand I have profited from my last 6 punts at the venue.

This after 15 years of not punting the venue. I am truly sad to see it go and feel for the blokes and gals who applied their trades there. I hope in the greater scheme of this it will have some benefit, for the Kimberley folks as well as racing SA. Thank you Flamingo!

I have a 15 point plan that will save racing in SA and grow it.

Its no use anymore saying we told them, we know why and how it got to this, because we do however now is the time to move forward, whats gone is gone and Flamingo is not gone yet.

En nou met Bill Human se boodskappie hier bo wil ek net sê dankie Bill. Groot fan van jou stalle en met jou wenners het ek al heelwat rekeninge betaal. Sterkte vorentoe ou maat en ek hoop om jou op Vaal en Turffontein te sien. Laat weet as jy so bietjie pine shavings nodig het vir 'bedding' in die Gauteng/Vaal omgewing.