Joey calls it a day

South African horseracing will bid farewell to one of its great characters and leading trainers at the end of November.

Former Cape champion trainer Joey Ramsden has decided to close down his South African operation.

Whatever his personal reasons for making this sea change in lifestyle, there is little doubt that he will go down in history as some of the collateral damage, which includes many individuals and sectors of the racing and breeding industry here, of the Joostegate scandal.


Joey Ramsden – tough decision made

While he was a top trainer long before Markus Jooste’s arrival, Joey was one of the men most exposed when the former Steinhoff boss hit a brick wall back in December 2017.

“We’re taking a sabbatical as both Steph and I feel that this is the right decision for ourselves and our family to take a step back for a while and reassess in the future. Goodhope Racing will be closing its doors on 30 November 2019.We thank you all for your understanding in what has been an extremely testing time and an extremely hard decision we’ve had to make,” writes Joey in an email that has done the rounds of racing’s unforgiving bush telegraph in the past few hours.

He goes on to say that they need to reiterate that this is not a knee jerk reaction to any ‘news’ that’s been released – ‘we simply needed to take the time to speak with our family, friends, staff and owners before we made anything public’, he writes.

He adds that naturally the horses in their care will be looked after as per their usual high standards until new homes are found.
“Having been lucky enough to have trained many Champion racehorses it has been the staff behind me that have made it all possible and it has been heartbreaking to tell them and I can’t thank them enough for their loyalty and their understanding.It’s been a privilege and an honour to train in this beautiful country and I’m going to miss Cape Town very much,” he says in closing.

Joey obtained his trainers license in 1995 and has been Cape Champion Trainer four times. He has trained 20 Gr1 winners of 26 Gr1 races, including Variety Club, Attenborough, Just Sensual, Winter Solstice, The Conglomerate and Red Ray.

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He has three young daughters, Holly , Zara and Ruby who he once said keep him busy and broke! His partner Stephanie Grentell worked for Inglis in Australia before meeting Joey.

There is no question that Joey Ramsden will be missed and that South African racing is poorer for his departure.

We wish him well and let’s afford him and his family the courtesy of the privacy that they deserve.

From the Sporting Post

I backed the Conglomerate the wrong year

INTERNATIONAL SOUTH AFRICA
By Michael Clower
Racing Post

Joey Ramsden, one of the top trainers in South Africa for more than 20 years, is to close his Cape Town yard at the end of the month.

The news is another blow to the country’s racing industry, which is struggling in the face of falling betting revenues. South Africa will be left with only seven racecourses when Flamingo Park in Kimberley is shut down next month.

Ramsden, 51, was allocated stables in Singapore in April and seemed set to train there but on Monday the Singapore Turf Club reported he had decided against the move.

It was widely assumed he would continue in South Africa – only last Saturday he ran horses in the big meeting at Turffontein – but on Wednesday afternoon he emailed his owners telling them of his decision to close his yard.

One of them forwarded the email to the Sporting Post racing paper. In it Ramsden, who has trained the winners of 26 Group 1 races including the 2016 Durban July with The Conglomerate, said: “Unfortunately we will not be able to take up the opportunity in Singapore and we’ve also made the decision to close down our South African operation.

“We’re taking a sabbatical as we both [himself and partner Stephanie Grentell] feel this is the right decision for ourselves and our family to take a step back for a while and reassess in the future. Goodhope Racing will be closing its doors on November 30.

“We thank you all for your understanding in what has been an extremely testing time and an extremely hard decision we’ve had to make. We need to reiterate this is not a knee-jerk reaction to any ‘news’ that’s been released, we simply needed to take the time to speak with our family, friends, staff and owners before we made anything public.”

Ramsden, stepson of former Yorkshire trainer Lynda Ramsden and son of her husband Jack, was hit hard by the decision of his main patron Markus Jooste to sell his horses after the Steinhoff financial scandal hit the headlines in December 2017. His numbers dropped alarmingly, as did the quality of his string, and he moved to a smaller yard.

He still managed to win big races, notably with Twist Of Fate, who won last season’s Cape Classic and KRA Guineas and finished third in the Durban July. However, he has struggled in the current season and has sent out only two winners.

Sad to see him go but does this journalist know something we don't and I quote " SA will be left with only 7 racecourses when kimberly closes next month "

I am sure Michael meant to say in three years time ?