by Magnat

Another race meeting will be held at the Marsa racetrack on Sunday 8th October starting at 2pm.

The programme features one flat race and seven trot events. Trotters will again compete over a 2,140m distance whilst thoroughbreds will race over 1,750m.

After the start of the Cassar Fuels Autumn Championship for Premier class trotters last week, our attention will now turn to the other classes which will compete in races leading to finals, also sponsored by Cassar Fuels.

Some finalists will be selected this week with the remainder resulting from next week’s races. The Copper class and Gold class races will land the first three horses in the final, with the first two qualifying in each of the Bronze and Silver classes.

All races are expected to be balanced with a number of in-form horses taking part. Sunday’s Gold class race includes horses such as No Comprendo and Lacoste I.T. both coming from wins last week, Lys des Etroits coming from a win and two places in its last three outings, Kejser Flamingo which finished in a runner-up position a fortnight ago and many others.

The Silver class includes horses such as Orlando Dix, Navaroso de Khepri, Must du Buisson and others which have had good performances recently, plus four newcomers, i.e. Darco As (GER), Lass Highland (SE), Orio de Marancourt (FR) and Pedros au Top (FR). (For precision’s sake, we also note that Surprise Lania (SE) made its debut last week in the Gold class coming in as a reserve).

We also have two “normal” Premier class races on the card. In these will see some popular horses making their return to the track, including Prix de Vincennes winner Master Perrine, Sette Giugno Cup runner-up Energy Launcher and others, some trotters which registered good performances recently such as Summer Championship winner Major Chaleonnais, Skip Dimanche, Niky du Donjon and Energy As, plus newcomer Norton Journeau (FR).

The flat race has an extremely international flavour, featuring six Class B thoroughbreds coming from France, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy and the USA. A number of them are pursuing their first local win whilst others are keen to register their first win in more than five months.
So, this meeting includes something for everybody, with variety being the order of the day.
Last meetings

The highlights of the last two meetings were the four Autumn Championship heats sponsored by Cassar Fuels, which were all keenly contested on the 2,140m distance.

In the first heat on Friday, favourite Carnegie Hall took the lead early on and managed to maintain it till the end despite runner-up Oscarina’s attack in the final straight. It thus registered its third seasonal victory in a good time of 1’16’1 per kilometre. Mica Bonero, Lover Boy Index and Lou Petiot also qualified for the semi-finals from this heat.

Skip Dimanche was in the lead for most of the second heat but it was attacked by various horses in the last part of the race. The first seven horses finished practically in one group. The win went to Solid Lady Spin (its first win in Malta) ahead of Happiness Photo, Le Coup de Foudre, Norman d’Avril and Milord Barbes, which all qualified for the semi-finals.

On Sunday, the first heat resulted in a tight win for Keelan (also at its first win in Malta) from Livi Cantona. Joker C.N. which had led for most of the race finished third, with the remaining semi-final places going to Troy Boshoeve and Key Value.

A very good time of 1’15’6 per kilometre was registered in the final heat by winner Flash Coger which dominated the entire race. Lipouz Lesmelchen had a strong finish to take the runner-up position, with Nabab des Corvees, Mentor de l’Iton and Lord The Best, being the last qualifiers.

There were also various other good times during the last meetings. These include the 1’16’6 per kilometre registered by Flying As in the Silver Class, the 1’16’7 per kilometre made by No Comprendo in the Gold class and the 1’16’8 per kilometre registered by Label Chouan in the Silver class.

Interestingly, Sunday’s meeting was also attended by a delegation from the French Association Nationale De Le Seigneur de Course, which is composed of retired French trotting trainers, drivers and owners and who were guests of the Malta Racing Club. This delegation presented mementoes and champagne to the owners of the winning horses in the Autumn Championship heats.

Doping test results

We are pleased to note that the Malta Racing Club has received three doping test results confirming that the particular horses were clean from prohibited substances. These results refer to races held on the 9th September 2011.

Congratulations go to the owners and trainers of Cheeky Jack, Indian Attack and Netter Williams.

We augur that we will continue to have further clean doping test results in future.

The Racing Calendar

Looking at the pocket size racing calendar recently issued by the Malta Racing Club, I could not help thinking about the challenge faced by whoever has the task of planning such calendar. First of all, it is a good thing that this has been published early on, so as to give owners and trainers advance notice of the forthcoming appointments and to permit them to prepare their horses properly.

Fixing the appropriate number of meetings, having a suitable number of registrations, choosing different race distances for different meetings mindful of the forthcoming racing appointments and trying to leave some space for international drivers’ encounters is not a straightforward task.

Additionally, one needs to organise a number of championships both for trotters and thoroughbreds, find enough sponsors for them, identify their most appropriate timing and the respective distances as well as space them out to the extent possible to allow a sufficient recovery period for participants.

Championships tend to raise all-round interest in our sport and thus having a sizeable number is desirable. We are also seeing various championships being held year after year, thus increasing the prestige associated with the particular championship as we see the name of this year’s winner being engraved in the roll of honour and joining previous years’ winners.

The number of available championships may mean that these follow each other relatively closely, and thus, as has been the case for a number of horses in the Autumn Championship, owners and trainers may wish to decide in advance which championships best suit their horses and their current state of health and to tailor their training and preparation so as to enable them to peak in the selected championships.

This is not unique to Malta but is something that also happens overseas.

Having a calendar which includes a healthy number of championships over different distances, whilst finding the support of different sponsors, is commendable because it provides different horses with multiple opportunities to shine, thus increasing competition and enhancing variety in the Maltese horse-racing scene.

We wish you all another interesting meeting next Sunday.

Photo: SOLID LADY SPIN AHEAD OF HAPPINESS PHOTO