Sport Industry Group

Southern Cape to host R25m race- 16 Apr 2010 00:00:00

South Africa’s Southern Cape is to stage the richest horse race in Africa with the winner of the new Africa Race International meeting set to pocket prize money of R25m.

The race will take place in Plettenberg Bay on the existing polo field on which South Africa have played polo tests.

The plan is to eventually build a horse-racing track on the site with local and overseas investors financing the race.

The Vodacom July, which is held in Durban, is currently South Africa’s richest race with prize money of R3m.

A date for the new race still has to be finalised, but it’s expected that it will take place on a Saturday in September next year. Other races are also being planned and the event is expected to run for three days.

The proposal for the race is for African countries to compete against one another and it will be a requirement for all the horses to have been bred on the continent.

It is expected that the event will be a big boost for the local horse racing industry and it is hoped will place South Africa on the international horse racing stage.

Plettenberg Bay was decided on as a venue because of its potential and the plan is to establish it as the horseracing capital of Africa.

While betting will be allowed, the main focus will be to establish horseracing as a sport rather than a gambling opportunity.

The Africa Race International is expected to become an annual meeting and, while there has not yet been a final decision about how many horses will participate, it will be an invitational event with a panel set to decide on the participants.

Negotiations with potential investors are still continuing although it is likely that many of the backers will come from the Middle East.

Michael Fenton, who is well-known in international horseracing circles, has been appointed as race director.

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