The Demise of horseracing was and is being predicted from all sides, the usual suspects pop up; turnovers, attendance and ownership, they are all down. This isn't a local problem but an international one with a few exceptions. But we can solve it.

The local demise is somewhat more tangible, we can feel it in the mood at the course where only a handful of people attend races. These are people normally associated with a horse or friends of theirs, trainers, owners, raceday operations personal. The actual punter base visiting the course is almost non existent on a normal day. We fear that they aren't in the totes either, nor are they watching on TV in their thousands, like before, based on turnover drop. People have simply emigrated to sports betting and major players, both bookmakers and their clients, have invested millions in and on websites and apps. They have also invested what used to be racings millions, into sponsoring sport franchises. This is money the industry has lost, possibly never to be recovered. This is due to one of two major issues; poor executive decisions by the industry at critical times dating back to when the casinos were licensed and/or being hamstrung by the costs of putting on the show and not being able to invest in the marketing of it. The bookmakers have won the battle for the so called 'open bet' and provide slim payback to the industry in which they have built businesses on. Some, we may add, have invested back into the game now, but it's too late, as whilst we advertise their products we lessen our tote turnovers and operater owned bookmaker brands; the two ways to put on racing. It's a really complex situation.

Talking of racedays, the members lounges are near empty and few if any courses in the country provide facilities that rival a casino set up. We need a radical change in thinking if this industry is to be profitbale once again. It cannot operate below margins or at its worst, break even. It needs to be sustainable.

The huge demise of Markus Jooste and the further pending issues surrounding other leading lights in the industry will and have further deepened the issues. The buying pool at sales will further decrease leading to a knock on effect to sales companies turnovers and breeders profits. The starting point of the industry are the breeders much like the crop farmers who feed the nation. These people feed the industry with horses, shape the breed and create Champions. However, many stud farms have cut back on the numbers, some have closed shop completely. This impacts world breeding as our horses compete well overseas, some are even touted to be world class. Is the check we are seeing in performances overseas a problem with the recent lesser performed crops or an irreversible effect of the ripple down effect of the state of the industry? Is it all crumbling?

The other major issue facing breeders is the land expropriation led by the President. Even though his language on the issues asks for calm and ordered takeovers, it is nonetheless unsettling. We have the issue of the lack of any transformation in this sector that makes us prime targets for land grabs.

The biggest bear that we have all been fighting is the protocal issue. Even if we have this in place by next year as some have mentioned, the so called 'silver bullet' could be gainful short term profits but how sustainable is the selling of our best horses overseas considering the racing product in our country is suffering to such an extent? It will collapse without the best horses and the carnival seasons that provide the much needed turnovers for off season operations.

So, what do we do? We can't spend too much to market to an already dwindling crowd that are converted, our most loyal of supporters. We need to look after them, no doubt, maybe even ask them to help us market, but new blood is needed. We have limited and ever decaying marketing budgets. We do still have a well policed, world class product that's still the envy of the racing world. We have some awesome but aging tracks that need some spit and polish, a talent pool of human resources that can still train the next generation instead of worrying about keeping their jobs. This means legacy planning is taken care of. We do however need the younger generation to buckle down and get the work done rather than strut around fancy pants complaining about the ills of the industry. Whilst the seniors of this industry need to assist and plan the training. The juniors need to bide their time and work their way to the top rather than the mentality eating away at graduates believing that they are the beneath the training level.

We need to invest in our media, and the media need to work hard at giving the industry a fair shot, not just all the negative but the positive as well. They are the messenger service that will cycle the news to the country and the world, not the largely incoherent writings of all and sundry on social media. In many instances we don't even know what to believe on our social media feeds. The rank and file need to stick to their day jobs rather than rambling on their feeds wasting precious work hours.

We need all hands on deck and the infighting and petty politics need to be sidelined, sometimes the only way to do that is to sweep the floor clean. Bring in the positive human capital and let go of the aging wonders who have no place in the future growth of human resources planning. We need fresh ideas, plenty of hard work and the coming together of the now and the next generation in order to get this show back on the road. Let's do it.