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Easter racing row

Call off Good Friday race meeting, say bookmakers

March 25, 2004 Edition 1

Kuben Chetty and Farook Khan

A row has erupted over Gold Circle's decision to stage a horse race meeting on Good Friday, which is a religious day among Christians and Hindus.

Even bookmakers have voiced their displeasure at the staging of a race on the religious holiday. David Greet, a bookmaker who has two outlets, one in Chatsworth and the other in Field Street, said that he was shocked and stunned.

"We gamble every day. But for Gold Circle to stage a meeting on Good Friday night is not acceptable. That is one day which is sacred. For as long as I can remember, there has not been any horse racing on Good Friday," said Greet.

He said that he was now going to speak to other bookmakers and test their views.

"I am speaking as a Christian. I cannot accept this and firmly believe that the meeting should be called off," said Greet, who added that he had received an official notification yesterday about the Good Friday night meeting.

David van der Vyver said that while he was a bookmaker, racing on Good Friday was not acceptable.

They said that they would now be contacting other bookmakers to test their reaction.

He said that while he appreciated that there were bookmakers of other religions, as a Christian he did not want to gamble on this sacred day.

Michel Nairac, Chief Executive Officer of Gold Circle, said the decision was taken as a measure of levelling the religious playing fields.

"We felt it was unfair that only certain religions had non-race days and others didn't.

"We race on the majority of religious days like Diwali, Eid and Yom Kippur, and we have now decided to race on Good Friday," he said.

Nairac said the racing industry had come in for criticism a few years ago for seemingly only looking after the Christian faith and they were now making the matter very clear.

He confirmed that the race day would be televised.

Praveen Naidoo, Communications Manager for Gold Circle, said Gold Circle was respecting the diverse persuasions of the country and applying its scheduling principles to everyone. "We don't single out any religious groups.

"Those who don't want to attend the race day are not forced to but those who want to race are also given that choice," he said.

Father Desmond Royappen, of the St Joseph's Catholic Church in Morningside, said the race meeting was an excuse for the horse racing industry to make more money in the racing calendar.

"One has to get one's priorities in order and for the racing industry to schedule a race meeting on a religious holiday would only do harm.

"My own perspective is that the day has been set aside for families to bond and people should consider not going to races or gambling on the day but instead reserve it for prayer," he said.

Bala Naidoo, president of the KwaZulu-Natal branch of South African Tamil Federation, said the industry should be sensitive to the religious needs of people.

"The day is very auspicious for Hindus and Christians and people need a day to spend time with their family rather than concentrate on entertainment in the form of horse racing," he said.

Purity Malinga, District Bishop of the Methodist Church of SA, said the onus to observe the religious day was on the community and not the racing fraternity.

"Going to services comes from the heart and people must make that decision whether to go to the races or go for prayer," she said.

Ashwin Trikamjee, president of the Hindu Maha Sabha, also said the decision to race on Good Friday was an individual one. "The racing industry broke the "Sunday rule" of no gambling ages ago and entertainment on days like Good Friday was inevitable.

"In the end it is up to the individual to decide whether they want to attend the race meeting or not and people can either choose to gamble or spend time with their families," he said.

Trikamjee said only Christianity was viewed as a real religion during the apartheid years and the decision by the racing industry shows that the needs of all religions needed to be catered for and not individual ones.