Chaotic gallop as first aid comes last at the Vaal

Racing in South Africa has been celebrating a good year in 2024, with green shoots of the game's rebirth everywhere. But a misstep reminds us that recovery is a delicate balance.

- Mike Moon

A sobering moment came, ironically, on a festive New Year's Eve with a calamitous race meeting at the Vaal racecourse. Devilish forces materialised on the sleepy Free State banks of the Vaal River on Tuesday.

The start of the meeting had to be postponed as there was no ambulance on the scene. There's a chestnut about jockeys having the only job that has an ambulance following them in their daily work. So, no ambulance, no racing. A medical doctor and a nurse were there - but not the wheels to convey the casualties.

Operator 4Racing has a contracted service provider supplying ambulances and paramedic staff at all its Highveld fixtures, at Turffontein and the Vaal.