sa horseracing convention road to the future glory - PARADE ...

Friday heralded a morning of big decisions for some. Crash out
on the beach or try their hand at deep sea fishing. Some had
past experience and stayed home but for some first-timers it
was a traumatic maiden voyage, especially Gold Circle
Communications Manager Praveen Naidoo. Even skirmishes
with schools of bonito were not enough to distract him from
a series of piscatorial yodels and a land lubber he will remain.
Sunday was race-day. Two minibus taxis ferried the parties to
Champ de Mars, home of the Mauritian Jockey Club since it
was founded in 1812. Situated on the outskirts of Port Louis,
Champ de Mars is the complete opposite of any of our South
African courses, both in size and crowd attendance. The inside
of the tight 1 500 m oval was a seething mass of humanity with
close to 20 000 people surrounding three oblong barns which
resemble farm sheds but house a host of bookmakers and tote
windows.
The main grandstand at Champ De Mars forms an amphitheatre
around a lush green paddock and is separated from the track
by a public road which is closed off on race-days. However,
there are no public viewing facilities overlooking the finish line
and some track-side bollards provide prime viewing above a
crowd which starts jumping up and down as if on pogo sticks
to catch a glimpse of the horses as they head for the finish.
The only elevated public stands are situated some 50m past the
line.
The paddock area must be one of the most compact and
picturesque in the world. The dozen or so saddling boxes, where
the jockeys do the saddling not the trainers, are situated under
the stipendiary stewards quarters and directly across from them,
shaded by a massive century-old fig tree, is a steep bank of
benches which were jammed to capacity before each race.
Window boxes filled with colourful petunias decorated the
balconies of the private boxes and stewards quarters adding
colour to a picture postcard scene. Hosted by the stewards in
an open box at the top of the stand, we were the envy of the
locals.
Resident South African jockeys Jeff Lloyd and Gunter
Wrogemann did us proud booting home the winners of five of
the eight races. Lloyd, the current champion, had been through
a lean couple of weeks after returning from a broken collar
bone but he was on song with a hat-trick of winners, including
the Duke of York Cup on Rhythmically for trainer Phillipe
Henry. The Joshua Dancer gelding was coming off a runaway
victory in the B Division but made light of his 57 kg as Lloyd
kept him wide throughout the race before kicking for home at
the top of the short straight and winning comfortably.
Lloyd returned to rapturous applause from a host of adoring
fans and is obviously the crowd favourite on the island.
But just how unforgiving the crowd can be was displayed in
the final race. There was a chorus of jeers as the horses were
being saddled and it transpired that one of the trainers had not
had a winner this season and his “fans” were giving him the
bird.
It’s amazing what atmosphere an enthusiastic crowd lends to
a race meeting and we left Champ De Mars in the late evening
having had a fine days entertainment.
If you are lucky enough to visit the island and get a chance
to make it to the course, don’t miss out.
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