by Magnat

Another race-meeting will be held at the Marsa racecourse next Sunday, with the first race starting at 2pm, and consisting of seven trot races over a 2,140m distance and one flat race over a 1,750m distance.

This meeting sees the start of the Cassar Petroleum Autumn Condition Races for the Gold, Silver, Bronze and Copper trot classes.  Two Condition race semi-finals will be held for the Gold class (the remaining three will be held next week), one from the Silver class (with the remaining five being held next week), two from the Bronze class (the other three are due next week) and one for Copper class horses (the other two semi-finals being scheduled for next week).

Except for the Copper class where the first three qualify for the final, in the remaining classes only the first two make it to the finals being held in the last weekend of this month.  Some extremely hard-fought races are anticipated with horses endeavouring to make it to the top placings to be eligible for the finals.

The Gold class semi-finals contain 13 and 14 horses respectively originating in Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands and Sweden.  A very varied field, containing horses coming from promising performances, such as Orage du Pont (a win and two places in its last three races), Ygor of Pass (a win and a place in its last two races), Zerbin (winner of its last race), No Comprendo (two places in its last two races) and others.

These races also include a number of horses making their return after the summer break, with some of them having had good performances prior to resting in summer and it will now be interesting to see whether they have retained their form.  Danish horse Lewis Shadow is registered to make its debut in the second Gold class semi-final.

The Silver class semi-finals have a similar profile, with the only semi-final in Sunday’s programme containing 15 horses originating in France, Germany and Sweden. 

Participants include among others horses such as Kapro Wareco, Korentin, No Commentary and Oregon de la Foret which have placed since the resumption of racing in September and three newcomers, French Obiscus del Fa and Swedes Charm Hammering and Lass Idol.

 

Balanced semi-finals are also on the card in the Bronze and Copper classes.

The meeting also includes a Premier class race with a 15 horse field.  This involves a mix of horses, some of which (Chaco Bar and Natif de Salvi) being just promoted from the Gold class, others making their return after months of absence, such as Knockout Molar (winner of the Assikura A Championship), and Tazza l-Kbira and Prix de Vincennes finalist Onyx Speed, I Pitstop, Nitesco d’Anthony and Norman d’Avril, with the other horses seeking to regain their form after already racing in September.

The Class A flat race sees a full field of eight thoroughbreds, including the last race winner Cheeky Jack and runner-up Timolin.  Docklands Brian is registered to make a return after a 2 and a half year absence, whilst Wildnis is scheduled to race again after 11 months.  Buttermilk, Bon Santos and Honey Moon have also been away for the summer, with Friarscourt endeavouring to demonstrate better form after its first race this autumn.

It is a pleasure to start seeing the number of horses registered for meetings increasing after somewhat weaker participation during September.  Apart from the fact that now owners would have given their horses a longer rest period, the start of championships and condition races provide an additional incentive and challenge for horse-owners and trainers.

Last Meetings

The highlight of the last two meetings was the start of the first championship of the second phase of the season, i.e. the Cassar Petroleum Autumn Championship for Premier class trotters.

Four heats from this championship were held last Sunday.  In the first, Swede Maximal Value claimed its first win in Malta going in front with around a lap to go and remaining there till the end to win in a time of 1’16’1 per kilometre, by over three lengths from German newcomer Sultan November, followed by Zilver Boko, French newcomer Oncle Sam, Shakira Trot and Nuper, which all made it to the semi-finals.

Then it was the turn of another Swedish trotter, Celebrity Photo, to win its first race in Malta, when it was involved in an entertaining challenge with Livi Cantona in the final straight, the former hugging the rails and the latter as usual on the outside lanes.  Celebrity Photo won by half a length in the meeting’s best time of 1’15’1 per kilometre, ahead of the same Livi Cantona, followed by the other qualifying horses, Veikko Hornline, Nelson du Val, Night Inlet and Noble d’Ete.

The final straight was the turning point even in the third heat, when yet another Swede, Think Yatzee, took the lead at this stage and went on to register its second seasonal win by just over a length from Troy Boshoeve, followed by Matrix Reloaded, Count of Life, Swedish newcomer ST Andrew LB and Op Le Cosseen which all made it to the semi-finals.  The winner’s time was of 1’15’9 per kilometre.

Finally, French Mont Cenis Honey claimed its first win in the last one year and nine months, when it went in front in the last lap and then built up a strong lead.  It ultimately finished around a length ahead of Label Chouan in a time of 1’15’8 per kilometre, with Major Chaleonnais, Joker de Choisel, Max d’Avignere and Quipo de Billeron being the last horses to qualify for the semi-finals.

The first two Gold class races (over 2,640m) of the last meetings saw winners triumphing for the first time, either in Malta or this season. 

Chaco Bar took the lead in the final straight and its first win in Malta by just under two lengths from Natif de Salvi, Orion du Vaumicel and Marquis Penalan in a time of 1’17’5 per kilometre, whilst Beckham Bob went in front around 350m from the end and defended its lead till the finishing post, taking its first seasonal win in a time of 1’17’8 per kilometre,  over two lengths ahead of Podium, followed  by No Comprendo and Zombrero Son in that order.

Finally, Netter Williams registered the best time of the two meetings on the 2,640m distance (1’17’1 per kilometre) when it took the lead in the final straight and resisted Ygor of Pass’ strong challenge to win by just over a length, with Oscar du Meu and Lovely Mab claiming the other places.

In the Class A flat race on the sprint 1,250m distance, Mr Roxy Music took an early lead which it maintained until just before the start of the final straight when Cheeky Jack took over followed by Timolin, with the former resisting the latter’s attack and winning by about two lengths.  Timolin finished second and Mr Roxy Music third.

The other winners were Flying As, Nasdaq du Closet, Orage du Pont and Zerbin in the Silver class, Orio de Marancourt, Morgan Kane and Icare de Jemma in the Bronze class and Jibilo du Terme in the Copper class.   

Mediterranean Horse Racing Union’s drivers’ championship                

The Mediterranean Horse Racing Union’s drivers’ championship for this year came to an end on the 22nd September at the Maribor racecourse in Slovenia.  Tony Demanuele represented Malta in this last leg and claimed fourth place.

This was enough for Malta to finish this year’s championship in runner-up position (as in 2011) after winners Slovenia and ahead of third-placed Russia and the other countries.  Although we did not win this year’s championship as we did in 2010, a runner-up position is another prestigious international result which gets added to other commendable results achieved by our drivers over the years.

Praise goes to the drivers which have represented Malta this year and have performed such a team effort leading to this result, i.e. Raymond Clifton (in Malta), Shaun Portelli (in Italy), Rodney Gatt (in Serbia), Charles Camilleri (in France), Noel Baldacchino (in Russia) and Tony Demanuele (in Slovenia).

An unlucky race

I did not mention above the two accidents which occurred in the 21st September meeting, because I wished to dedicate this week’s conclusion to them. 

A knowledgeable horseracing commentator and photographer referred to this meeting as an “unlucky meeting” and so it was, possibly one could also call it an “unlucky race”, because two accidents took place in the same race, i.e. that reserved for the Copper class.

Coincidentally, they involved the youngest horse (or mare) in the race and the oldest.  First, Esmeralda Run dropped its driver Brian Green who, to the concern of all, appeared not to move for some time with all present at the racetrack being extremely worried for him.

The ambulance took him to hospital and although he suffered some injuries he is on his way to recovering.  We wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see him driving horses again in the near future.

The race re-started and in the middle of the race, the crowd was shocked to see veteran trotter Zut falling to the ground.  We were relieved to see its owner and driver Joe Schembri escaping uninjured by the accident, but the scene I saw through the binoculars from the spectators’ stand was heart-breaking.

For many long minutes we were all hoping that we would see Zut rising again on its feet, but unfortunately this time it was not to be.  I found myself remembering other deaths of horses at the racecourse in the past as a result of different causes, Teseide, Nemo des Bruyeres, Premier Pas, Huggie Hanover, more recently Liosco Atout, and others.

I also remembered the death of six year old Scoop d’Yvel at the Vincennes racetrack last February.

These risks are inevitable for whoever carries out strenuous exercise, whether human being or animal, whether young or old.

But we all tend to put such risks at the back of our mind, because otherwise nobody would do any serious exercise.  And thus, whenever something like this happens, it leaves us all shocked. 

I do not know the owner nor did I ever see the horse from close by.  But seeing Zut fall to the ground brought tears to my eyes and I shared with the owner the sadness of this loss!

And I can imagine the even bigger sadness of its owner.  As one other owner told me, it is a terrible feeling to go down to the track with a horse and to come up on foot, alone.

Death is unfortunately inevitable and we all have to pass through it.  But undoubtedly, the stark difference between the vitality of a running horse burning the ground underneath it, a symbol of life, passing in the bat of an eyelid to a completely still, lifeless figure, accentuates the contrast between the beauty of life and the ugliness of death.

But life ultimately always wins.  And even in such circumstances, however sad they undoubtedly are, we continue believing in life, whether human or animal, and to look ahead with hope and courage – if anything, these occasions further confirm and help us appreciate the beauty of life. 

We wish you an exciting meeting next Sunday.