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INDUSTRY NEWS
SAFTOTE
Saftote, the banner under which Phumelela and Gold Circle commingle
all tote bets into single national pools, will soon reintroduce a
minimum R1 Place dividend with any shortfall required to effect the
minimum payout being funded by Phumelela and Gold Circle.
This change in policy will be a big boost for horseplayers once implemented
and has been made possible by new software from Amtote,
which developed and maintains Phumelela’s computerised tote betting
system.
The R1 minimum Place payout paid by the tote for many years was
accomplished by siphoning money from Place payouts on other placed
horses in the race.
Saftote decided to abolish the R1 minimum payout some months ago
for two reasons – one it was unfair to prejudice the Place payouts on
other horses in order to pay a R1 dividend and the other because of
money laundering legislation requirements.
Amtote is now adding the fi nal touches to new software that will automatically
enable the tote betting system to calculate a R1 minimum
Place payout with any shortfall being paid by Saftote, as opposed to
siphoning money from other Place dividends.
Simultaneously, monitoring techniques have been enhanced that
satisfy money laundering legislation requirements in terms of a R1
minimum Place dividend. Obviously, the R1 minimum Place payout
will not apply in the event of a deadheat giving rise to more than three
Place dividends.
The minimum number of runners for a Place pool to be in operation
is also to be increased from seven to eight. Thus should seven or less
horses run, there will be no Place betting.
The breakdown of meetings by region is Highveld 140, KwaZulu-Natal
114, Western Cape 97, Eastern Cape 69 and Bloemfontein-Kimberley 50.
The local line-up will be supplemented by foreign product, including
63 race meetings from Mauritius and Zimbabwe, UK racing daily and
other selected overseas events.
The National Fixtures Committee, comprising representatives from
horseracing and tote betting operators Phumelela and Gold Circle, is
responsible for compiling the national fi xtures. The committee aims to
structure a fi xture list that maximises both tote betting turnovers and the
enjoyment of all the sports’ participants.
The key element is consistency. Horseplayers like to know automatically
where racing is on any given day and consequently a region must
preferably race on the same day, or days, each week. Other important elements
include staging one afternoon race meeting daily, ensuring that
the Highveld and KwaZulu-Natal do not race on the same day whenever
possible and providing for either a Highveld or KwaZulu-Natal meeting
each Saturday and Sunday, as well as two local meetings on Saturdays,
the strongest betting day of the week.
The basic framework for 2004 is:
Mondays: Bloemfontein or Kimberley afternoon.
Tuesdays: Western Cape afternoon, 25 Newmarket night meetings.
Wednesdays: KwaZulu-Natal afternoon, four KwaZulu-Natal night
meetings.
Thursdays: Highveld afternoon.
Fridays: Eastern Cape afternoon, 20 Greyville night meetings.
Saturdays: Highveld and Western Cape afternoon.
Sundays: KwaZulu-Natal afternoon.
Racing in KwaZulu-Natal will take place predominantly on Wednesday
and Sunday afternoons and Friday nights. Five major racedays
in the province will be staged on Saturdays. Western Cape will race
on Tuesday and Saturday afternoons with nine Sunday afternoon
fi xtures.
Racing on the Highveld will be held on Tuesday nights and Thursday
and Saturday afternoons, as well as public holidays. There will also be
eight Sunday afternoon fi xtures. Bloemfontein and Kimberley become
Monday afternoon venues, while Eastern Cape retains its Friday afternoon
slot in which it has proved successful. Eastern Cape meetings have
been used to balance the fi xture list and eight Sunday afternoon fi xtures,
as well as Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon meetings, will be held in
the province.
Notable changes to the structure of the fi xtures in order to maximise
turnover include switching Western Cape weekday meetings to Tuesdays
and opting for day-night combinations on Tuesdays and Fridays in
preference to staging two meetings on Sundays. Fifty-four night meetings
are programmed with 25 on Tuesdays, four on Wednesdays, two
on Thursdays, 20 on Fridays and three Saturday fl oodlit fi xtures. Some
night meetings could be switched to Tuesday if USA demand for South
African racing on those nights grows.
There will be 99 South African meetings on Saturdays and the committee
has succeeded in keeping Highveld and KwaZulu-Natal racing
separate on all but nine days in the year, four of which are day-night
combinations and fi ve are major racedays in KwaZulu-Natal.
The fi xtures have been designed to capitalise on the two weeks after
payday, when people’s discretionary income is highest. Where possible
major feature races will be run in these periods.
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