From the desk – March
Dear Members
Welcome to the March edition of ROA Today.
Champions Day is the pinnacle of the Highveld Championships season and takes place on Saturday the 29th of March at “the Big T”. This raceday includes the running of the TAB SA Derby (G1), the TAB Empress Club Stakes (G1), the HKJC World Pool Premiers Champions Challenge (G1) and the TAB Computaform Sprint (G1). With four Grade 1’s and four Grade 2 races on the day, it promises to be an exceptional day’s racing. Click here for more information.
Legendary horse racing trainer Ormond Arthur Ferraris will be inducted into the South African Hall of Fame on Champions Day at Turffontein Racecourse. To celebrate this special occasion, Race 5 on the day will be named in his honour. Click here for more information on this wonderful achievement.
On Thursday the 13th of March, the ROA held it’s twenty sixth Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) and a video link of the full meeting is available by clicking here. On behalf of 4Racing, who tendered their apologies for not being in attendance at the meeting, Bradley Ralph presented the following condensed statement on the progress and working relationship between 4Racing and the ROA, saying that; “Over the past year the ROA and 4Racing have made conscious decisions on collaborating for the benefit of the owner and the member experience. 4Racing has clearly demonstrated its commitment to this experience through the refurbishment of Turffontein, and the scheduled upgrades to the Vaal and Fairview. In addition, a closer working relationship on racedays and specifically, the feature racedays, was evidenced by the team effort on Summer Cup Day 2024. This has continued with the support of the ROA team on the ground throughout the jurisdictions of the Eastern Cape, Gauteng and the Free State. The ROA team and the 4Racing Marketing and Events team were diligent in their operational planning, the build up to the events and clarified roles and responsibilities that resulted in solid execution on the day. So, a special thanks from 4Racing to the ROA team for going above and beyond to support the greater cause of the ownership experience all round. Going forward, the ROA and 4Racing will continue to work together in a collaborative and partnership manner to strategically redefine the ownership value proposition to make it more inclusive on both raceday and non racedays with additional benefits that talk to understanding your customer better, creating a better marketing plan and program that positions racing as a sport for all in South Africa”. We continue with this statement under this article.
Another important outcome from the AGM was the ratification of the appointment of Trevelen Pillay as a director of the ROA Board. I would like to welcome Trevelen into his new position and wish him the very best during his tenure. You will learn more about Trevelen and his vision for the industry by clicking here. Trevelen’s appointment fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Garth Towell from the ROA Board as he concludes his 5-year term as per the ROA MOI. On behalf of all members, staff, management and the rest of the Board I wish to thank him for his unwavering commitment, effort and hard work during this period. He has served the Board with distinction, and his commitment to excellence has been inspiring. We feature Garth and his wife Lynn as our ROA Owners of the Month for the month of March please click here for more on their racing journey.
In other news this month, the ROA visited the Eastern Cape over the Human Rights Day long weekend click here for the highlights, and we are honoured to feature Mark Currie, a member for 31 years, as our ROA Life Member of the month, click here for the article.
Looking forward, the National Yearling Sales takes place at the TBA Complex in Germiston on Thursday 10th and Friday the 11th of April 2025. We invite you to visit us at the sale and use the opportunity to engage with myself and other ROA members. Directors of the ROA will also be in attendance as well as all staff members, who will make themselves available for any queries or information you may have on membership. We invite you to bring friends and family along too and encourage them to become involved in the thrilling world of horseracing. You can find the online catalogue at https://bsa.co.za/event/national-yearling-sale-10/#/
In closing, I was saddened to hear of the passing of 2 of our dear members, Belinda Victor and Pamela Isdell, as well as racing stalwarts Tony Jelinski and Sean Patterson. On behalf of the Board and staff members of the ROA, I offer our sincerest condolences to their family and friends.
