Durban July sponsors say abandoning last three races was unacceptable

As website bloggers threw grenades left, right and centre about the abandoning of the last three races on Durban July day at Greyville, the sponsors, Hollywoodbets, said the whole episode was “unacceptable”.

Asked on Monday by Business Day about his view of the sudden cancellation, Devin Heffer, brand and communications manager at Hollywoodbets, said: “Our take is that we were gutted and just really disappointed. We need to do better next time as it was unacceptable.

“Just a disappointing end to what had been a terrific race meeting,” Heffer added.

Bloggers offered their comments on the Sporting Post website with operator Gold Circle, the National Horseracing Authority (NHA), the mayor of Durban and the jockeys who refused to ride all being slated.

One blogger stated: “Gold Circle mustn’t come with the blame game that it wasn’t under their control.”

Another one said: “Surely, surely, surely an event of this magnitude must have a back-up plan in the event of a power outage.”

Another blogger felt the whole incident was disgraceful: “What an absolute disgrace — the jockeys are running racing.”

The mayor did not escape criticism either. “The mayor of Durban was in attendance at the July and — as a VIP — today will walk away from this public relations disaster with his job more secure than ever and zero accountability to the City Of Durban,” said another blogger. 

NHA CEO Vee Moodley rejected a suggestion in Sporting Post that the racing operator, Gold Circle, had been “thrown under the bus” by the NHA, which had requested “guarantees” that the lights would not go out. They had done everything in their power to keep the show on the road, he said.

The official Stipes report sums up what happened after the outage just after 6pm,  prior to the running of the 10th of 12 carded races:

“As the riders proceeded to the start of this race, the racecourse was cast into darkness due to load-shedding which commenced at 6pm in the vicinity of the Greyville Racecourse.

“Upon inquiry from the stewards, Gold Circle management advised that load-shedding was not planned for the period from 6pm to 8pm in the vicinity due to a pre-arrangement with the Metro. It was added subsequently that the electricity was switched off at 6pm, and would then be restored, but that it would take at least 30 minutes for the floodlights to be powered up to facilitate racing. The stewards called for a meeting with the riders and it was established that they had serious concerns that they had been left in darkness en route to the start, which in their opinion would potentially put their lives and that of their horses at risk.

“The stewards inquired from Gold Circle if any guarantees could be given that the electricity would be constant and uninterrupted once the floodlights were powered up. The response was that no guarantees could be given.

“The jockeys were then asked if they would consider waiting until 8pm until the planned original load-shedding schedule had ended, to which they replied in the negative as no guarantees of constant, uninterrupted electricity at this projected time could be given by any party.

“The stewards, after carefully considering the opinions from the riders, the veterinary surgeons and the Gold Circle representatives, formed the opinion that the lives of the jockeys and the horses could not be placed at risk in these circumstances and decided that the race meeting should be abandoned in the interest of rider safety, horse welfare and the integrity of racing.”

As racegoers only got 75% of the entertainment they paid for, perhaps a good public relations exercise would be to give free entrance — and perhaps a betting voucher — for the Gold Cup meeting on July 29.