Kimberley gets its big chance to sparkle again

Kimberley was once a lot more than a hole in the ground. It was arguably the most important place in South Africa, and possibly even the world.

After the diamond strike of 1871, the place exploded in just two years from being a farm in the middle of nowhere to being the second-biggest town on the subcontinent, with more than 40000 residents.

At one stage, more than 90% of the world's diamond supply was coming out of the one hillock, with 800 "claims" being furiously excavated with pick and shovel. The hill was soon the Groot Gat.

First known as New Rush, as miners and chancers poured in, the diggings were a scene of hard scrabble and hard play. This "play" included horse racing, which always follows new wealth and fortune-seeking.

Wheeler-dealers like Barney Barnato and the Joel brothers were smitten with the sport of kings at that time and later became the backbone of the region's burgeoning racing industry.

Kimberley's importance to the politics and economics of the 19th century was underlined in the Anglo-Boer War, when the siege was the hottest international news story for many months.

The town's prominence lessened, though it did have the odd important moment, with activists such as Sol Plaatje and Robert Sobukwe having links to the town.

Racing was a victim of the ebb, with local meetings becoming little more than bush-track affairs.

With the corporatisation of the game in South Africa in the 1990s, new operator Phumelela gained control of Kimberley racing and brought it back to public attention.

There's been a rebranding of the racecourse as Flamingo Park and improvements to the sand track.

Indeed, Kimberley racing has been seen on television betting channels worldwide, with punters in places like the UK, Australia and Turkey thrilling to background vistas of the rural Northern Cape as horses gallop past indolent windmills, rusting tractors and grazing goats in the winter-khaki grass and thorn scrub.

Late August is Flamingo Park's moment in the sun, with the two-day Racing Association Festival of Racing, featuring the course's richest race.

Top trainers from around the country, such as Mike de Kock, Charles Laird, Kum Naidoo and Sean Tarry, support the festival by taking good horses up north for some sport. And, with racing in the rest of the country in a flat spot, big punters and other colourful racing folk pitch up for what has become a thrash of note.

The big race, the RA Mile, to be run on Wednesday, has a new sponsor in Recall Security and the stake money is R200000.

The festival kicks off with a 10-race programme on Monday. The Racing Association is laying on a three-day trip for racing fans that includes a tour of the Big Hole, a visit to the Oppenheimers' Mauritzfontein Stud, with an exclusive viewing of renowned stallion Fort Wood on Tuesday, and a cocktail party. For details, call 011-683-3220.

Vaal, tomorrow: PA - 2,3,13 x 2,5 x 6 x 5,6 x 4,8,12 x 2,9 x 5 (R72)