Get to the races

FASHIONISTAS have been assured they will be wowed at the Sansui Summer Cup on Saturday, a day at the races that organisers have labelled “not to be missed”.

The Sansui Summer Cup is up for grabsThe Sansui Summer Cup is up for grabsAlthough the main event is horse racing, there will be no lack of other highlights, such as sipping sparkling wine, mingling with the cream of high society, betting on the gee-gees, and checking out the millinery masterpieces and resplendent outfits.

“The atmosphere on the day will, without a doubt, be entertaining and enjoyable, with punters betting throughout the afternoon, champagne glasses clinking in hospitality tents and top acts … seeing the event into the evening,” say the organisers.

Seen by many as one of the city’s hottest annual social occasions, this year’s Summer Cup theme is Bling Your Pink. It takes place on Saturday, 26 November, over 2 000 metres at the Turffontein Racecourse.

Turffontein is the flagship course of Phumelela Gaming and Leisure, the horse racing and tote company. It consists of the old standside track and a new inside track. New lighting has also been installed, allowing night horse racing.

The Sansui Summer Cup is a day-night race meeting. It carries a total of R2-million in prize money.

Tourism
Phumelela has announced that the Gauteng Tourism Authority (GTA) and the Design School Southern Africa (DSSA) are partnering it in the Summer Cup, with the aim of transforming the race day into an event with national and international appeal.

The GTA is putting its weight behind several initiatives to boost the entertainment value. These include linking SA Fashion Week to the race day, a celebrity challenge race, a sound experience between races and an after party.

“It’s wonderful that the GTA has recognised the importance of the Sansui Summer Cup and its potential to enhance tourism,” says Clyde Basel, a Phumelela sales executive. “We look forward to a long and mutually rewarding partnership with the GTA that we believe will take the Sansui Summer Cup to a new level.”

Expect high fashion at the CupExpect high fashion at the racesLara Fredericksz, DSSA’s brand communications manager, adds: “We were looking for a way of rewarding our top performing fashion students … and what better way than to flaunt their award-winning ranges … at one of Joburg’s biggest fashion spectacles.

“We already have a keen investment in fashion and races, and are extremely proud of two of our second-year students whose works were both regional finalists in this year’s Vodacom Durban July Young Designer Awards.”

Horse racing ranks in the top five most popular sports globally. An estimated two million South Africans from all walks of life follow horse racing, with more than one million visiting racecourses each year.

And the Sansui Summer Cup can promote the city and the province as a tourist destination. South African horse racing is televised daily in more than 20 countries to an estimated global TV audience of about 10 million people.

Fashion
Sansui, the consumer electronics company, first sponsored the Summer Cup in 2009. This racing, fashion and social event is Joburg’s oldest and most prestigious first grade horse race. Many of the country’s top horse owners and jockeys compete in the Summer Cup.

The race is nearly as old as Joburg and it’s fitting that it takes place at a venue that overlooks the city’s landmark mine dumps. It was first run in 1887, a year after the discovery of gold brought fortune seekers to the reef.

A dusty mining camp sprung up on the farm, Turffontein, which later became part of what is today Johannesburg.

Once the highlight of the Joburg feature race season and one the city’s most fashionable and sought after social events, in the 1970s the Summer Cup changed because of economic conditions, and eventually became known as the Champion Stakes.

In 1999, Phumelela re-introduced the Summer Cup to the racing calendar in its traditional set-up and restored it to its former glory. Primedia Sport partnered with it to market and promote the thoroughbred race.

Horses
at the racesThe winning horse in 2010 has a contender this yearNumerous famous horses have won over the years, including Pamphlet in 1917, Lenin in 1940, Cuff Link in 1963, Caradoc in 1966 and Home Guard in 1970. Java, trained by Jack Butler, pulled off a Summer Cup hat trick. In 1956, the four-year-old won the race for the first time. It then went on to win in the following two years.

Elevation repeated the achievement almost 20 years later. Trained by George Azzie, the chestnut landed its first victory in 1972, when the race was run at the Holiday Inn for the first time. It went on to score again in 1973 and completed a hat trick in 1974.

“In more recent times, Roland’s Song stands out with consecutive wins in 1990 and 1991 and few racing fans will forget the emphatic manner in which the brilliant Empress Club stamped her authority on the race in 1992,” say the organisers.

Top trainer Mike de Kock has won a record number of times since the race’s reintroduction in 1999 – with Delta Form in 2000, Ingleside in 2001, Wolf Whistle in 2003, Ilha da Vitoria in 2005 and Rudra in 2008.

The 2010 Summer Cup winner, Flirtation, also trained by De Kock, is again a contender this year.