The National Horseracing Authority has pleasure in announcing the composition of the Stipendiary Board that will officiate at the Champions Day Meeting at Turffontein Racecourse on Saturday, 5 May 2018:
Lyle Anderson - Chief Stipendiary Steward (Central Provinces)
Shaun Parker - Chief Stipendiary Steward (Kwa-Zulu Natal)
Lennon Maharaj
Ryan Hutcheson
Louis Nhlapo
David Rahilly
The National Horseracing Authority (NHA) is pleased to confirm that Mr Deanthan Moodley, Senior Stipendiary Steward and the NHA’s Legal Counsel has relocated to Port Elizabeth from its Head Office in Johannesburg. Mr Moodley will not only bolster the Eastern Cape Stipendiary Board, but will continue in his role as the Legal Counsel to the NHA.
South Africa is a signatory to the Asian Racing Federation (ARF). The Asian Pattern Committee (APC) is a division of the ARF. The APC reviews the Graded and Listed races of each affiliated Country on an annual basis.
South Africa’s International Ratings for the previous three years were reviewed prior to the assessment in August 2017 by the APC.
After evaluation by the APC, the SA Nursery (Grade 1) fell short of the requirements in terms of the APC guidelines and was downgraded to Grade 2 for 2018. The shortfall was based on the Average Annual Race rating for the race over a four year period. The Annual Race Rating is determined on the best rating achieved in a Graded or Listed race of the first four finishers during the season.
|
Race
|
Annual Race Rating |
Pattern Race Rating |
Rating Parameter |
+/- |
|||
|
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
2015/16 |
2016/17 |
||||
|
SA Nursery |
104.00 104.75 102.00 103.50 |
103.38 |
110 |
-6.63 |
|||
Should circumstances change and the quality of the runners improve over the next few years, an application may be made to upgrade the race.
The National Horseracing Authority confirms that an objection was heard at its offices at Turffontein Racecourse on 9 February 2018.
The objection was lodged by a member of the Central Provinces Stipendiary Board in terms of Rule 68.3.4 in that the horse NIGHT SHADOW ran as the horse TROUBLE MAKER in the 3rd Race at the Vaal Racecourse on 6 February 2018, when this horse had not been entered or accepted for this particular race.
After deliberation, the Board was of the unanimous opinion that it had been established that the horse named NIGHT SHADOW ran in the 3rd Race on 6 February 2018 at the Vaal Racecourse under the name TROUBLE MAKER and accordingly upheld the objection.
In terms of Rule 69.6 the horse that ran as TROUBLE MAKER was disqualified from the 3rd Race on 6 February 2018 at the Vaal Racecourse and the remainder of the horses will be placed relevant to the original placings declared by the judge.
All records pertaining to TROUBLE MAKER in relation to Race 3 on this particular day are to be expunged from the official records.
An inquiry will be held in relation to this incident.
Over the last few racing seasons, a general decline in the Merit Ratings was observed, especially in relation to the large group of horses rated 70 and less.
Upon request, an analysis of average ratings of the racing population from August 2010 to present was undertaken.
Based on the research, the following was proposed:
1. Increase the domestic population by 6 rating points; effective entries 1 March 2018. (The relativity between horses remains the same).
2. The rating increase will “stretch” the population thereby reducing the “over-crowding” in the lower divisions.
3. This will only affect domestic ratings. Domestic and International Ratings are not linked and are done separately.
4. This adjustment will be effective on 1 March 2018 across the country.
The situation arose due to:
1. Guidelines limiting upward rating adjustments.
2. Race conditions restricting upward rating adjustment.
3. More aggressive rating drops for non-performance.
4. More cognizant dropping of young horses not making weight- for- age improvement.
5. Slippage” in handicap races. i.e. Where there are more downward adjustments than horses remaining the same or going up. Where this happens in large numbers; the ratings will tend to decrease over time.
These factors are under review.
The proposed increase was accepted by the industry representatives that attended a meeting in Johannesburg on 25 October 2017 and was ratified by the National Board of the NHA.
1.
The NHA confirms that after extensive discussions with COSATU and the PSA there will be no protest at the Sun Met on Saturday.
Parties have committed themselves to continuously work together to find a lasting solution and to deal with any outstanding issues that may arise in the future through dialogue and co-operation.
The NHA would like to thank all parties who contributed to finding a solution to this situation.
Furthermore, in line with the values defined in the South African Constitution, the NHA confirms its empathy with the plight of those affected by the current developments and the economic climate.
The National Horseracing Authority (NHA) confirms its empathy with all those who lost investments due to the Steinhoff-Markus Jooste scenario.
The NHA has met and discussed this matter with representatives of the Public Servants Association (PSA) and other interested parties.
It therefore wishes to inform all interested parties that no horse owned by Markus Jooste will be racing on Sun Met day.
Markus Jooste has sold the horses that he owned, returned his colours and terminated his membership of the NHA.
Furthermore, Markus Jooste resigned as a director of Mayfair Speculators (“Speculators”) on 7 December 2017.
On 15 December 2017 ABSA brought an application for the liquidation of Speculators and obtained a further injunction to interdict Speculators from disposing of its assets, subject to certain conditions. Commercial arrangements have subsequently been concluded between Speculators and its creditors which includes permitting Speculators to continue its horse racing activities. Any prize monies won will, after payment of the Jockeys, Trainers and Grooms, be used to reduce Speculators’ debt. Similarly the proceeds of the sale of Speculators’ debt will be used to reduce Speculators’ debt. It is therefore not in the interests of Jockeys, Trainers, Grooms and creditors to prevent Speculators from competing in races until it has sold all of its horses.
We wish to point out that the NHA has no legal basis within which it could prevent Speculators from competing.
The NHA with the PSA and its allies agreed to stage a Solidarity parade to empathise with all those who lost some or all of their investments in the Steinhoff-Markus Jooste saga.
The Sun Met will continue undisturbed as normal.
As agreed between the parties, the horses running under the Mayfair Speculators banner will relinquish their official colours and will be allocated colours by the NHA (called Club Colours).
The NHA is still engaging with COSATU.
The National Horseracing Authority has pleasure in announcing the Stipendiary Board that will officiate at the Sun Met Race Meeting at Kenilworth Racecourse on Saturday, 27 January 2018.
Ernie Rodrigues - Chief Stipendiary Steward, Western Cape with over thirty years’ experience as a Stipendiary Steward, including lengthy service as a senior member of the Kwa-Zulu Natal Stipendiary Board.
Shaun Parker - Chief Stipendiary Steward, KwaZulu-Natal with over twenty three years’ experience as a senior member of the Eastern Cape, Central Provinces and United Kingdom Stipendiary Boards.
Lyle Anderson - Chief Stipendiary Steward, Central Provinces, has extensive experience in the Horseracing Industry, including successful stints as a Trainer and Racing Administrator.
Nicholas Shearer - Deputy Chief Stipendiary Steward, Western Cape with extensive experience in the Horseracing Industry as a Jockey and having served as a Stipendiary Steward in Kwa-Zulu Natal and Central Provinces Stipendiary Boards.
Cecil van As - Stipendiary Steward, Western Cape, with a lifetime of experience as a top flight Jockey, Starter and over ten years’ experience as a Stipendiary Steward in the Western Province Stipendiary Board.
Following the previous press release the NHA wishes to confirm that it is in constant discussions with the Public Servants Association (PSA), working towards a solution that will not involve a protest march but rather a show of solidarity for losses suffered by their members due to the Steinhoff/Markus Jooste situation.
More details will be communicated tomorrow at a joint press release between the NHA and the PSA.
The Sun Met will continue undisturbed on Saturday.
The National Horseracing Authority wishes to inform all that it is currently in discussions with the Public Servants Association (PSA) with regards to the Sun Met and Mr Markus Jooste’s participation.
Further announcements will be made after the discussions with the PSA have been concluded.
