Was fascinating to watch him talk. Calls a spade a spade and couldn't give a toss who gets their feelings hurt. Loved the plans he laid out that they have for Cape Racing wrt renovations etc.....Clearly a man that puts his money where his mouth is....not just lip service and self praise but acknowledging the collective efforts of everyone involved in turning the ship around. I was thinking of going up to Jozi for the Summer Cup but everything that is tainted with 4ok Racing gives me the heebie jeebies so i'll save my dosh and go to the King's Plate instead.
Bortz is a big boy and there is no questioning his ammo or his cahunas. If the NHA calls him to order, one expects him to take his medicine, considering he entrapped himself into the rule 72.1.26 corner.
He's a great asset to the industry and he clearly has a vision to make the industry sustainable.
Its chalk and cheese when he speaks about his plans and execution thereof in comparison to 4Q articulating their pie in the sky rain, reign, exciting and delightful.....
Tony and others must be ecstatic...GREG BORTZ has made a very telling admission in Public...He says THERE IS DOPING IN RACING and that he gets to see what the NHRA are doing...The question is then does he not have a serious conflict on interest as an Owner....How can an Owner be so powerful that he can direct the NHRA to investigate a yard that he feels is cheating and is constantly showing up his personal trainers ability...That is abuse of power and he and the NHRA are acting together to bring the industry into disrepute...He states clearly that We(he) owns this facility and well decide who will run on our race course...How can an owner decide to bar a trainer who is in competition to him and his stable from running in the Cape?...Where in the rules on the NHRA is an operation allowed to stop trainers from racing in its jurisdiction? He makes a claim that trainers(Peter) are giving injections within 7 days of running...now if this is true then is it a breach of the rules? The answer is clearly no as the NHRA and Bortz had to formulate new rules to stop this practice which has been legal for years...how can a private owner accuse a trainer of doping in public when no rules were breached and new rules were created after these two parties collaborated to stop a LEGAL training method because it was showing up Snaith....another point to consider is the obvious breach of 72.1.26 behave or conduct himself in such a manner which has or might have the effect of
discrediting horse racing or which does or might bring into disrepute the good name of the
NATIONAL HORSERACING AUTHORITY, a RACING OPERATOR, any training
establishment, the ACADEMY, the STEWARDS or members of any committee of the
NATIONAL HORSERACING AUTHORITY or any INQUIRY BOARD, APPEAL BOARD,
INQUIRY REVIEW BOARD, the LICENSING BOARD, any OBJECTION BOARD or any
RACING OPERATOR or any official of the NATIONAL HORSERACING AUTHORITY or
RACING OPERATOR. BORTZ makes a public statement saying the number one problem with Racing is doping...He provides no proof of this ...if a normal owner or any other person falling under the rules of the NHRA said this they would be charged by the NHRA...he has not been charged so it points to collusion and the fact that the NHRA is now the tool of a owner who has an agenda to stop a trainer and his owners from competing against his stable ....If the NHRA had found a breach of the rules then why did they have to create a new set of rules to facilitate this supposed breach....If owners accept this they are giving Bortz the power to decide if their horses can run in the Cape or not...He has now weaponized the NHRA to act as his and Snaiths personal army....no other owner has the ability to get the NHRA to conduct raids on stables...This is very similar to the illegal practice of "swatting " that is seen in the USA....both the NHRA and Bortz have brought racing into disrepute and my hope is that the injured parties take these two transgressors to the Civil court and also the Gambling board as Bortz is using his power to manipulate future race results by threatening to ban trainers from racing in his region...I thought Bortz was better than this but he is proving to be a very dangerous man who with his utterances and actions has damaged the reputation of racing and no doubt will cause future owners and punters to rethink investing in racing when they hear Racing is full of doping!
In this dying sport. is the bigger problem being outspoken about a possible problem (doping) or the possible problem (doping)?
My two cents worth...the outspokenness is about the egos of the honchos but the doping affects the punter, who funds pools, as results cannot be trusted...
for me those 2 words are the most controversial. You see I live in the UK and over here on one of my contracts we genuinely have zero tolerance to drugs and alcohol. Working on the UK's network rail or the London Underground evokes a zero tolerance to the 2 mentioned substances. No where else have I ever witnessed this being effectively deployed or policed.
Should the Cape Become an Island and run its racing as a stand alone product perhaps that might be achievable but I cannot see how this works or is sustainable. The call to arms from the breeders to send their best to Cape Town sales also makes no sense.
Since the 1st horse was ever purchased not 1 single breeder anywhere in the world has been able to identify his/her best. In fact when I look at the figures of certain trainers and their agents buying power and then I look at their returns I can confirm that the " princess " or "prince" often turn out to be the frog at the ball.....
"Since the 1st horse was ever purchased not 1 single breeder anywhere in the world has been able to identify his/her best."
So, are you saying that the halfwits in charge of the breeding operations at Juddmonte, Coolmore, Sunderland Holdings, Shadwell.......have not been able to identify his/her best?
Maybe, these halfwits need to spend some time with our zama zamas or with you and your team in the UK underground to get some clear thinking.
"The call to arms from the breeders to send their best to Cape Town sales also makes no sense"
This makes total business sense to Bortz who aspires to attract and host the big international bloodstock spenders.
Yes I am saying that. They certainly don't identify their best prior to selling. They might indeed identify them once they go into training but pre sale no way. If they did they would keep the champions and sell the soup meat.
After all every single breeding operation in the world is commercial at some point.
So if you had a Frankel out of a 1000 guineas mare and identified it as soup meat why would you not sell it for millions at a sale.
SO fair enough, you think that breeders should "send" their best to Cape Sales....... International buyers hey!!! that's the target market. Interesting. so basically stuff the locals, our breeders are now going to sell all the premium bred animals in the cape, international owners are going to buy them and then what? Oh I know, lets look at the stats for some international owners how they fairing?
an open competitive market is the solution in any business, cream always rises to the top.
You're correct Bob everyone forgets that when there were no sponsors World Sports Betting stepped in and sponsored the sport going back to 2015 all three operators were begging them for their money and in fact they have put in over a 100 bar into the sport excluding the 52 million that they committed to 4Racing over a 3 year period starting in 2022 as well as putting in another 4.5 million a year in the Cape and another million a year in KZN,no another sponsor in my humble opinion has put in this type of contribution towards horse racing.
I would agree that it is impossible to predict which yearlings will be best on the track.
However, the factors in deciding which sale is appropriate for a yearling, and which will determine “best” in the context of saleability, are:
1. Pedigree
2. Conformation
3. Maturity
4. Statistics ( breeder, sire, dam)
Of course, one cannot ignore the effect of hype, sentiment, bias and relationships between the various parties which will also impact on prices.
.....always maintained that those newer Cape Sales so early in the year from the advent of CTS were never ever any value as the horses were hardly off the tit and thrown into the bustling city environment and many sales toppers became big disappointments as did those so called better bred sorts that were not mature enough to look like their genetics.....but those sales do pull in the international buyers and bless our better breeders with premium lolly..... now it would be a shame if the TBA becomes a statistic should the Cape Sales prevail in pulling bigger drafts and bigger Cape breeders and buyers no longer support the more traditional nationals.....:S ....however pre CTS cape TBA sales held at calmer country side venues produced some of our better turf performers and at bargain prices....those like Jet Masters 1st few crops....:woohoo:
Key words "due diligence ",I believe Mr Bortz is trying to re-engineer horse racing and create a successful model .He is looking at horse racing as a project and will see it out. I wish Mr Bortz all the best and maybe he can look at innovative ways to get the operator to take full control of all exotic bets to benefit all stakeholders.
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