by The Centaurian

Well, it’s been a while since I commented on racing matters at Borrowdale Park – but we are still racing. Let us not understate that fact.

Of course, that does not mean that all is well with our sport, largely down to money matters. However, context is everything, as is the direction of travel.

At the back end of 2018, the portents for racing were catastrophic – the end of racing at Borrowdale Park looked imminent. Huge debts, pressing creditors, no gambling revenue, no rental income, no assets to sell. Why wouldn’t the whole thing fall into the big hole of racing history which has plagued racing centres across southern Africa – indeed, many other parts of the world?

Then came a new Board of Stewards, which felt the sport was worth saving and had some ideas about how it might be achieved. Messrs. Buchan, Dixon, and Carter set about their task by first raising some serious bridging finance from both benefactors and investors. They then began the task of repurposing the club’s assets into a retail park (and later some farming) and launched an effort to unlock some freehold land which had mistakenly become embroiled in the leasehold land upon which Borrowdale Park sits. And all this was taking place as a great scythe was cut through the club’s operational costs – notably staff and stakes.

In short, racing at Borrowdale Park was put into Intensive Care with only a rudimentary life support system in place.

The consequences of the necessary austerity programme were inevitable – a reduction in owners, trainers, jockeys, horses and racegoers – until rock bottom was hit – which is about where we are now.

But wait – where are we now? I can tell you truthfully that whilst we are not out of the woods completely and the occasional blood transfusion is still necessary from time to time in the form of cash – the club’s vital signs are beginning to look very encouraging. I know I am a renowned optimist but you draw your own conclusions. Here are a few facts to help you.

1. Retail park revenue now exceeds $600,000 per annum
2. Farming revenue is a steady $60,000 per annum
3. With sundry revenue our total income now exceeds $700,000 (excluding sponsors funds) that is some $58,000 per month – if only all tenants would pay their rents on time and in full – and we had no bad debts.
4. It costs about $13,500 to run a race meeting, so $27,000 per two-meeting month
5. The club overheads run at about $30,000 per month, so if you add all this up – circa $57,000 – it is clear that we operate at about breakeven from a P & L standpoint – and have done so for a while – but cash flow is a different thing – we are always short of cash.
6. What we still have to achieve is a meaningful operating surplus to meet the cost of
   surprises, to reinvest in the club’s fabric, improve stakes or to offset the impact of slow-paying tenants.

There are other things we have achieved on this journey too.

We now have feisty Board of Stewards – which might be seen as negative in some respects – but I would far rather have a feisty board than an acquiescent team of yes wo/men.

We have updated our Rules and Bye Laws for the first time in a generation – to include more clarity and greater safeguards for the Members’ assets in the long term.

At last we have an accounting function in place which will ensure we can, at last, have a good go at meeting the fiduciary responsibilities of the Board in their capacity of representing Members’ interests. This function is supported by a Management Information System which provides for a better insight into the club’s affairs for non-accounting folk.

The Board of Stewards has also agreed to appoint a General Manager as soon as finances allow such a person to be deployed.

Efforts to unlock the opportunities which the club’s freehold land could yield have been on the cusp of success for some time, but that final step seems to be in sight but has been rather elusive (more news on this shortly). With success in this, the club’s fortunes will be very different indeed. Having said that, the club is not sitting, waiting for the land panacea to happen; it has other repurposing ideas – to include more retail space, a solar project for the roof of the Silver Ring and the redevelopment of the said facility into a series of corporate racing entertainment boxes as per the Meydan example. Finally, there remains some scope for further, albeit modest, rental increases.

The financial benefits of all these measures will be directed to the interests of the industry as a whole – but with particular emphasis on stake increases – we must be close to this now.

For the new season, given our current and projected horse population it has been decided that we race every three weeks, with 8 races if possible, which will give 120 races in the year – same as in 24/25. The plan will save the club an estimated $72,000 which in a worst case scenario might, at last, provide the MTC with just that bit of financial flexibility it has desperately needed in recent times.

Having made these positive points for the industry consideration, it is the case that there are still things we can do much better, many of which cost nothing, vis TV coverage in the Ipi Tombe bar, the Ipi Tombe acoustics, the race commentary in that venue, communications with our industry members, transparency of the clubs affairs and functionality – especially with AGMs, social media usage to promote both race meeting attendance and ownership involvement, a younger Board of Stewards, more sponsors, more prompt payment of stakes – to mention just a few.

Industry participants often express their disgruntlement with the way things are run at the MTC – often with justification – but despite its many shortcomings, the MTC has kept racing going and set a course for a brighter future. For that I express my sincere gratitude. Having said that, the Bondholders and other benefactors also deserve our thanks – without them all would have been lost seven or eight years ago.

Then, let’s not forget the industry participants – notably the owners who – if you look at it, probably pump half a million dollars into the sport each year for precious little reward or appreciation.

These are the backbones of racing in Zimbabwe, closely followed by our talented bunch of trainers and their grooms.

Special congratulations to Leading Owner, Craig Dankwerts; Leading Trainer, Debbie Swanson; Leading Jockey with equal wins but more seconds than Philosande Mxoli, and finally Centaur Syndicate winning back-to-back Triple Crowns, this year with River Power.

Oh and let’s not forget Head Boy, Gyles Dorward, who ensures the course and grounds are always fit for purpose. Thank you all.

At the end of term, the Headmaster might comment that we could all try harder – B+ – fair enough, we all can – but at least we have somewhere to go for the new term – and it looks like Fridays are a winner – who can’t take such afternoons off? Call it detention.

The Centaurian aka CJ Smith

31st July 2025