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SPORTINGREADY POST DIGESTTO •R ThuUN?rsday 17 OctobER 2019 1 View The Catalogue Online Ready To Run Sale, 3 November TBA Complex, Germiston Thursday 17 October 2019 FAIRVIEW POLY Friday Best Roving Banker: R2-(1) Meryl (1/3) TURFFONTEIN Saturday Best Roving Banker: R2-(3) Risk Taker (2/1) DURBANVILLE Saturday Best Roving Banker: R6-(1) Twist Of Fate (5/10) HOLLYWOODBETS GREYVILLE TURF Sunday Best Roving Banker: R7-(7) White Lightning (5/2) Widely respected as a straight-shooting thinking man’s man and lauded on the Saturday 12 October Turffontein – race 2 racecourses of South Africa and the world, Mike de Kock came out this week telling Sporting Post all who would listen that the reason for the recent stakes reduction was, Best Handicapped Hertog quite simply, the drop in betting turnover. WON 9/1 “The reduction was unavoidable. It was a card that So how do you increase Turnover? Easy. you make it the Ra was dealt with by Phumelela, and we came easier to win. up with something we believe is a feasible temporary at the beginning of each raceday we need races solution considering the circumstances,” he said. where it’s easy to find winners. More winning bets The publication of the De Kock interview followed increases the churn for the day. the much being said and written these days about There is nothing worse than longshots at the start the trouble we’re in. Mostly by taker-outers. Not by of day, to empty the pockets of many. putter-inners – the punters, who make the world go round. Then there’s the Pick Six and Jackpot. Without cou- plings, they’re just a stupid bets. The apparent trouble is that there’s not enough money to satisfy the needs of the taker-outers. The It is not just that these bets tie up money that could simple answer is of course that the putter-inners be turned over instead. need to supply more. No couplings makes things more difficult. couplings The key to that is Turnover. Every single bet gener- will give more winners, put more money back in ates funds for the taker-outers. wallets to be turned over. SPORTING POST DIGEST • Thursday 17 OctobER 2019 2 NOT ROCKET SCIENCE Of course, the number of handicaps must also be restricted. he compared a horse race to a golf tournament. They’re too hard to win. We want more plated races, with short- “The sponsors don’t stage golf tournaments paying the first five priced favourites, who steam home. players only. They pay a prize up to last place, otherwise there Then there’s the other way. create more putter-inners! won’t be tournaments to enjoy. They pay everyone because it creates a spectacle. It generates interest. We’re in trouble with anyone ever thought of how the French started their climb to the six, seven and eight-horse fields, we need bigger fields. top many decades ago? Le Tierce! One simple and easy to explain “Each racing centre has its own needs. We have more participa- bet, the trifecta, and promote the hell out of it to the general public. tion in Gauteng. In my view the stakes pot in cape Town shouldn’t It’s relatively easy to win - but not always – and it provides excite- necessarily be the same as the one in Gauteng. They can cut their ment. Importantly, it’s a once-a-week fix. Focus! cloth the way they see fit. There is no need to be derogatory and The Tote might even do a deal with the bookies to place the open throw insults around. We all need each other, I am disappointed bets from this National Trifecta with them – as the bookies special by the way some people have reacted. Instead of nasty com- contribution to the whole, instead of the hole. ments and suggesting skulduggery, they should be coming up with constructive ideas. beats moaning minnies, for sure! “Most of the people slinging off don’t understand the stakes What are we waiting for? pot or the stakes formula. It took me a few board meetings to understand it myself. What happened was inevitable and we had to deal with what we got.” De Kock touched on the racehorse population and noted: What De Kock Said “Eighty percent of our horses are mediocre, but we need them Most of those slinging off following Phumelela’s stakes to race, they have to get in and earn money for their owners. reduction and the revised spread of prize money don’t Most of us own battling horses, myself included, but what are understand the stakes pot or the stakes formula. we to do? These runners have to show some kind of return. are we just going to ignore the plight of the smaller owners, or those So said multiple champion trainer and Racing association board with moderate horses? In my opinion they are just as important member, Mike de Kock, in an interview published on the daily Turf to racing as the owners with large strings of horses.” Talk website newsletter yesterday. he urged industry players to look at the situation objectively. De Kock highlighted the effects of the bookmakers’ so-called “The problem is that racing people have a resistance to change, ‘Open bet’ on tote betting yields. they don’t want to think out of the box. They have to see the “Racing loses a lot of its turnover to the open bet – as stated by spread of prize money in the spirit in which it was done. We have Phumelela there is a loss to this bet of R75,000 for every million. been trying to find solutions. Ours was an attempt to do some- This is problematic and it’s the cause of the rot that has set in.” thing different, to offer rewards to a greater proportion of partici- he explained why and how the Ra came to spread the stakes pants. We want to ease the pain so that all of us can survive.” from 1st to 10th place. “What is important to note is that we are trying to make a “We looked at the stakes pot as a whole. We took millions difference, we are acutely aware of racing’s problems and we’re from some big stakes races, like the Sun Met and the Premiers putting our heads together to solve them. The Ra is taking action challenge, and we propped up the smaller stakes races. Then we on a number of fronts. We’re taking measures to keep the ma- tried to redistribute the available stakes to create participation, chine running and to improve things for everyone, but there is no and this is a vital point to understand. Two factors in our betting magic wand. This process will take time.” decline have been small fields and a lack of participation. Punt- De Kock said that some comments on social media were uncalled for. ers enjoy a wider variety and they invest more to have a better “There are prominent racing figures criticising us, and some of chance of winning. In an attempt to encourage participation by them actually put their money on the open bet with bookmakers owners and trainers, so to achieve larger fields, we decided to pay and don’t contribute to the stakes pot. We invite them to come down to 10th place. This is something that was tried in the united with solutions instead of slinging off. We are all ears. We’ll wel- States and it worked. If not successful here, we will re-assess the come their input. This is a new era.” situation and try something different. We have made work of it. We have been open-minded, looking for something new. he concluded: “Most bookmakers themselves are racing people, they love the game as we do and I don’t think they want to be in De Kock said that the spread of stakes to 10th place may be insig- this situation. but at some point they were chased away and they nificant to some, but most significant to others. took a number of tote clients with them. We should be wooing “an owner who pays nominations and acceptance fees and them back. whose horse participates in betting turnover is entitled to a share “I can understand why the bookmakers are popular. They are of the spoils. What is wrong with that? Not all of us can be win- betting professionals with great, functional websites, little -down ners, there will always be losers too. The winners are well taken time and effective customer service. We should be catering to the care of with between 58 and 62% of stakes. Others should be get- needs of our punters by improving our own service, online and ting a share of the action for participating an amount like R1,000 on-course offering so that that they can return and contribute to may seem paltry for 10th place in a Maiden Plate, but it will cover tote turnover. If we don’t, racing will not survive.” a bill or two. Tenth place in the forthcoming charity Mile will be worth R10,000 and for 10th place in the Derby the connections Our reader comments platform was humming after this story. will get R20,000.” Have your say – click here SPORTING POST DIGEST • Thursday 17 OctobER 2019 3 WEEKEND RACING shouldn’t be disregarded in a tricky race and with the Racing's Modern Family services of the astute competitor, Muzi yeni.

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