Hollywood Group deepens investment in horse racing’s resilience

Years of reinvesting in the horse racing and betting industry, along with some key acquisitions, have enabled the Hollywood Racing Group to help keep the industry going into the future.

Hollywoodbets brand and communications manager Devin Heffer told Business Times the company had embarked on an extensive journey to help revive South African horse racing at a time when parts of the industry faced financial collapse, with thousands of jobs and decades of racing heritage at risk.

In May 2020, the racing operator Phumelela went into business rescue. At the time, it owned and ran horse racing operations in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape, and managed racing in the Western Cape under a management agreement.

“Phumelela would eventually be replaced by 4Racing, an organisation generously financed by Mary Slack (nee Oppenheimer),” Heffer said.

At the time, Western Cape Racing was on the verge of business rescue, or worse, liquidation. The business was haemorrhaging from significant and continuous operational losses. Without any obligation, 4Racing had honoured the management arrangement it inherited from Phumelela but was reluctant to permanently take ownership.

“It was immediately apparent that there would be no solution without altruism,” said Heffer. “The Hollywood Group put their hands up and said, ‘We firmly believe that we can make a positive and sustainable impact on the industry.’ In the end, Cape Racing decided to go with us. It was a huge leap of faith,” said Heffer.

“In 2019, we began assisting Gold Circle, which was the KwaZulu-Natal race operator at the time and experiencing a bad financial period.

“Our involvement didn’t begin with the acquisition of Gold Circle. We’d already spent several years helping to keep racing operational through sponsorships and financial assistance.”

It was immediately apparent that there would be no solution without altruism. The Hollywood Group put their hands up and said, ‘We firmly believe that we can make a positive and sustainable impact on the industry.’

—  Devin Heffer, Hollywoodbets brand and communications manager

However, when Covid hit, Gold Circle was on its last legs. The pandemic worsened an already difficult financial position. Racing was suspended, owners began leaving the sport, horse numbers declined, and confidence across the industry weakened.

Hollywoodbets invested even more to make sure that the KwaZulu-Natal horse racing industry stayed alive and big revenue-generating events for eThekwini, like the Durban July, which held its 130th instalment earlier this month, could continue.

“In April 2024, [we got the news] that Gold Circle would sell the organisation to us. We had to wait a year for it to be passed by the Competition Commission and the KwaZulu-Natal economic regulator. Before we even received approval, we got to work and began investing in the infrastructure, especially the Greyville racecourse and the Summerveld training centre.”

Heffer said that in May 2025 “we launched Race Coast, where we would take Western Cape Racing and KwaZulu-Natal Racing and amalgamate them under one banner. This investment into both provinces saved more than 15,000 jobs and kept the sport going in these regions.

“This has a knock-on effect on the 60,000 people in South Africa who work directly with the horse racing industry and 300,000 who benefit from it indirectly.”

Other investments into the space by the Hollywood Group include a R17m investment into the South African Jockey Academy to secure the future of South Africa’s next generation of jockeys.

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About R1.5-trillion was estimated to have been wagered in the gambling industry, compared with the R1.43-trillion turnover generated during the previous financial year, the Treasury’s discussion paper on the gambling regulation proposals said from 2024/25 National Gambling Board statistics.

“Most of the turnover, about 75% or R1.126-trillion, came from betting activities, whereas 19.5% or R292.8bn came from casinos. Limited payout machines and Bingo did not contribute significantly to the turnover, where each contributed about 3.6% or R54.7bn and 1.8% or R27.5bn, respectively.

“Interestingly, from the turnover from betting, about 98.8% or R1.112-trillion was on sports betting, and the remainder horse racing.”

Gross gambling revenue, which represents turnover, or money staked minus winnings paid to players, amounted to R74.5bn, a 25.6% increase from the previous financial year.

The Competition Commission said that it recommended that the Competition Tribunal approve Hollywood Racing Enterprises’ acquisition of Gold Circle with conditions.

“The commission is of the view that the proposed transaction is unlikely to substantially lessen or prevent competition in any market. To address public interest concerns, the merged entity agreed to a condition that they shall not retrench employees as a result of the merger for a period of two years following the merger implementation date.”

Business Times