Vaal Race 4 Loaded The Wrong Way Around

Can we expect a press statement from Phumelela.... 2 in one week, that would be a farkin first><

What a farkin joke - those that won ended up only getting their money back - those that lost and were not in atote or near a tv and did not hear what happened ( like me on the golf course backed the third horse listened to the race on the phone and then threw my ticket away and should be able to get a refund but now cant ) the trainer and jock who dont win that often but now get nothing after winning and the owners who pay their bills and finally get a stake only to be told soory no race no payout please pay your fees at month end. What a bunch of %$^ clowns. What are P and the tote going to do with the money that wont get paid out because punters who threw tickets away and now wont get paid.A bunch of incompetent arseholes from the man at the top to the stipes starters and all those that claim to have this sport as aserious buisness. I dont care if u dont respond to websites like this but thats why today you have just lost another 5 punters and two part owners . You bunch of incompetent idiots.

Saldiani, I agree we do complain a lot (human nature and all that), but I also second Frodo's point that we give credit where it's due - and possibly even sometimes when it isn't. Lol.

Some of the complaints aired on the various forums are frankly silly and cannot be taken seriously, but there are complaints and then there are complaints, What happened at the Vaal yesterday was unforgivable really, even allowing for the fact that to err is human. However, given the increasing apathy towards racing and the sport's shrinking fan base, we truly needed an incident like this like the proverbial hole in the head. Sod's Law would of course ensure that a strongly fancied horse would win the race, not some formless 50/1 outsider, thus ensuring that a very considerable number of punters would be effectively robbed of their winnings (unless they are Hollywood clients, naturally. Sorry, but I had to get that in somewhere )

Just as bad is the fact already pointed out by previous posters that a great deal of punters would have thrown their tickets away not knowing that they were entitled to refunds on losing bets. Not everybody spends the entire afternoon (particularly on a weekday) in the presence of Tellytrack. This kind of thing is in a whole different ballpark to "minor" complaints like races running late or semi-invisible road signs pointing the way to the racecourse. This was a balls-up on a grand scale, and while bloopers happen one would really like to think that certain fundamentals like loading the horses in the right stalls, ensuring a race doesn't jump early or making sure a race is being run over the correct distance would be attended to with clinical precision. Whatever next? The stalls facing the wrong way? ("Hey Fred, when did Turffontein become a left handed track????") This is like pitching up for a major soccer game and finding that
the pitch has been dug up for maintenance or that the game was yesterday.

The real question is this: will a lesson have been learned from the Vaal fiasco and new procedures implemented to make as certain as humanly possible that it never happens again, or will our friends in high places just sweep it all under the rug and just carry on like before in the mere hope that it either doesn't happen again or, if it does, they can just shaft the public once more?

Thanks Magic and other posters, if you consider what happened yesterday we had a couple of concerns regarding bookmakers and they could not get to the customer base quick enough to correct matters and not a word from P on the tab site or any official statement about this "major" issue, but were quick to highlight other potential areas that could have damaged the "bottom line".

The "bottom line" is that customer is KING.

P are under the impression that they are coupled on the tote with Munitoria, Dept of Home Affairs etc where the customers have no choice, the difference is that the "punters" do have a choice.

Makes you think? (or maybe not) the choice is yours.

Apart from the "senior loader" (dont know what you call him), jockeys & handlers at the starting stalls is THERE nobody else to oversee that the horses are loaded in the correct stalls???... what boggles my mind is out of everybody that was behind the starting stalls NOT ONE soul picked-up the loading error!!!.. DONT THEY HAVE NUMBERS ABOVE THE STALLS SO THAT A JOCKEY (last resort) CAN CHECK THAT HIS MOUNT WITH HIM ON IT IS LOADED IN THE CORRECT STALL????? What about the track commentator..surely he would have noticed that the horses were being loaded into the wrong stalls?

Surely a jock will know the difference between a one draw and a ten draw - why did they not shout to the starter as they normally do with "not ready" ....

Draw mess up sinks Dover Crossing's victory at Vaal

RXP

JACK MILNER - Trainer Brett Warren said he was ``bitterly disappointed’’ after Race 4 at the Vaal yesterday, won by his charge Dover Crossing, was declared null and void.

An inquiry has been opened into the incident that arose from all the horses being loaded into the incorrect starting stalls. Dover Crossing, the 3-1 favourite, won by many lengths, but after the running of the race it was established that none of the horses had jumped from the starting stalls allocated to them.



``After careful consideration, and consulting with Phumelela, it was decided to declare this race null and void,’’ reads the official stipendiary stewards’ report.



Racing Association chairman Larry Wainstein said he had been in contact with his National Horseracing Authority counterpart Dr Len Konar and had insisted on a ``speedy and full’’ inquiry into the incident. ``A decision on what action will be taken will be announced once the outcome of the inquiry is available - and that must be sooner rather than later,’’ said Wainstein.



Warren said: ``All the horses went down to the start as per normal and I won the race. In my mind fair it was fair and square.



``What I fail to comprehend is how it happened. The stipendiary board has contact with the start. They should have seen the horses loading in the wrong boxes. They all watched it happen and then they declared the race null and void.



``After the race they never spoke to me. I just heard what everybody else heard over the PA system.



``I’m bitterly disappointed. I intended to give the horse his vaccinations tomorrow because the focus is on sand racing and most of the Turffontein races coming up will be on the inside track. I’ll still have to go ahead with it, but I have nothing to show for it now,’’ added Warren.

Sad all around Plus
Dover Crossing still a maiden!

There is a story I was told of a race at Germiston many years ago.

The horses cantered out, rung around at the start, loaded, jumped raced and finished.

After the race someone noticed the time was very quick.

They discovered that while it was an 1800m race, the gates had been taken to the 1600m and from there all proceeded as normal.

I would guess that too was null & voided. Anyone remember?

As an owner for many years and having a runner in this race yesterday I cannot express how shocked and dissapointed I am at the lack of professionalism displayed by the starter , jockeys and loading staff at the vaal. Having a horse prepared for this race and finally receiving a good draw after months of bad draws in nominations my trainer finally said to me you are in with a winning chance !! Well to say the least I was confused when I watched my colours going into stall gate 9 instead of 2 ?? Suddenly I thought I was mistaken and checked my racecard to see that there was Felix Coetzee drawn also in the wrong gate , at that moment the starter said go . There are few issues with racing tactics that we all know from a good draw or bad draw you need to adopt to give your horse a winning chance , and as a result my horse and jockey had to drop out to the back and race from behind , clearly a major dissadavantage on a fast track . I as a smallish owner have seen how tough the game is getting for us to stay in it and to win a stake or two, as well as to buy the odd horse at a fair price and to try and compete against the mighty yards out there , but if the racing powers cannot sort out the basics at races like yesterday, then I must say its time to get out of racing alltogether. Having backed my horse from long odds and excited as all owners get to watch their runners run in a non event and then to be granted a refund was a shame for racing authorities. What about poor Brett Warren and owners of the actual winner , I wonder how they are feeling today ??? I have 2 questions .

1 . How is it possible that professional jockeys that are suppossed to study their rides and draws before a race do not say something before they jump to the starter??

2. How is it possible that the starter can load 4 horses in a single race in the wrong stall ??

The question is now what will the racing bodies do about this incident and their staff and what corrective action will take place ?? Will there be stronger controls put in place to avoid such a massive mistake going forward.??

Simply put racing is not run professionaly enough at the moment from jockeys to officials , these people have jobs because of owners big or small. Regulations , rules and discipline in the game are not there anymore and unless things change fast incidents like yesterday will cost racing more owners to get out completly.

you want another story,many moons ago almost 20 years ago before telltrack i had a bet on a horse running in a 7 horse race in pe....4 horses in the race were trained by stanley greef but i backed a horse trained by another trainer...one of greefs was backed like the result was a foregone conclusion ...the result my horse that i backed wins at 14 to 1 and the best that greefs horses can run is 4th and its the one that they backed heavily...i buy the boys a round but a few minutes later here via decemanation that the trainer of the 4th horse has objected against the 1ST 2ND AND 3RD HORSES ON THE GROUNDS THAT NONE OF THEM WAS ELIGIBLE TO RUN IN THIS RACE...the race was for fillies and the 3 horses who had filled the 1st 3 places were mares..the result was that the first 3 were disqualified and the 4th horse was placed first and i didnt even get a refund..... .

8-)I remember that race, pirates. One for the history books, that was.