High drama at Durban July

2005-07-03 21:55

Henk Steenkamp

Durban - On Saturday, the South African horseracing industry experienced the good and the bad at one of the biggest and most dramatic meetings in the history of the Durban July.

A damper was put on the excitement when the big favourite, Rabiya, fractured his right hind leg after about 1 600m of the 2 000m man race and had to be put down on the track.

A record crowd of 60 000 streamed into Greyville and approximately two hours before the July, the stadium was packed to capacity and the gates were closed.

However, while people were ecstatic about the success of the meet, there was also raw sorrow about the tragedy that happened during the race when Rabiya broke his leg.

Rabiya had the punters gasping with his poor start. He remained amongst the back markers, until his jockey, Robbie Fradd, heard a loud noise.

"It sounded like the report of a gun," Fradd, who had travelled from Hong Kong especially to attend the meet, said.

Fradd jumped from the horse in time. Rabiya tumbled to the ground and was put out of his misery by the vet attending the meet, Dr Robin Gatley.

Devastated by the tragedy

"It's heartbreaking. We're all very sorry about what happened because Rabiya was the country's best three-year-old horse," said Michel Nairac, chief officer of the race operator Gold Circle. Everyone involved with Rabiyda was devastated by the tragedy but remarked philosophically that it is something that happens in this kind of sport.

"The people at the stables loved Rabiya a great deal. They will hold a private funeral for the horse on Monday," said. Rabiya's owner is John Newsome and his trainer is Dean Kannemeyer from the Western Cape.

Although Rabiya had been ensured, the stables indicated it is no compensation for the tragedy. An investigation will be launched to determine exactly what caused Rabiya to break his leg, but since the leg had been badly damaged, the investigation is not expected to shed much light on the events.

There had been a tremendous growth in the betting turnover on the tote countrywide. The turnover at the meet had been R61,3m.

The millions that had been placed with the bookmakers must still be taken into account, and the expectation is that there could be a 40% improvement on the R210 million in bets that were placed with last year's July.

At the meeting, not one of the favourites won any of the 12 races. Punters had a difficult time, but bookmakers took fat profits.

The July had been won by a rank outsider, Dunford. His trainer is Mike Bass from the Western Cape, and Anton Marcus was the winning jockey.

- Die Burger