by Magnat
Two race-meetings will be held at the Marsa racecourse this weekend, with the first on Friday starting at 7pm and the next on Sunday with the first race being scheduled at 2pm.
Each meeting will consist of eight trot races all over a 2,140m distance, which are dedicated to the Cassar Petroleum Autumn Championship/ Condition Races, except for a “normal” Premier class race.
The highlight of these meetings are two Premier class Autumn Championship semi-finals, being held one on Friday and the other on Sunday, each featuring 12 registered participants.
Friday’s semi-final includes a number of past championship winners such as Zilver Boko (this year’s Sette Giugno Cup winner), Major Chaleonnais (2011 Summer Championship Premier class winner) and Mont Cenis Honey and Joker de Choisel (past Prix de Vincennes winners).
We also find heats winners Celebrity Photo and Maximal Value, with the remaining horses also being extremely valid, i.e. Count of Life, Shakira Trot, Nuper, Night Inlet, as well as recent newcomers Oncle Sam and ST Andrew L.B.
Sunday’s semi-final also features three past championship winners, i.e. this year’s VOB Cup winner Label Chouan, and two multiple championship winners in recent years, Livi Cantona and Think Yatzee. The latter is coming from a win in the heats, whilst Label Chouan and Livi Cantona were close runners-up in their respective heat.
The remaining horses include other heats runners-up Sultan November and Troy Boshoeve, together with the other strong participants, i.e. Op Le Cosseen, Nelson du Val, Max d’Avignere, Veikko Hornline, Noble d’Ete, Quipo de Billeron and Matrix Reloaded.
The normal Premier class race features 14 participants, no less than 9 of which will be making their return after an absence of between 3 and 9 months and it will thus be interesting to see which of these trotters has gained most from such a lengthy period of rest. Four horses, i.e. Bonus Kall, Versace Boko, Gjedo du Louvre and Arnie Sensation have already raced in September and will be seeking better form after being eliminated in the Cassar Petroleum Autumn Championship heats.
We also have eight year old Danish newcomer Mars being registered with the highest number of points for a newcomer and having overseas winnings of SEK1,917,059 and a best time of 1’11’7 per kilometre on a 1,609m distance. This horse has had racing experience in various countries, including Denmark, France and Sweden.
The three Gold class semi-finals are composed of 13 and 14 participants, with many of them having already made a good name this year, or coming from promising performances or else being recently relegated from the Premier class.
These include horses such as Prix de Cabourg winner Ollico Pellois (returning from its summer break), Pinekiller, Cassius Hall and others which were recently racing in the Premier class, Netter Williams, Pouvoir Magique, Energy Launcher, Novak, Lovely Mab and Oscar du Meu, which have already won or placed since September and all the other extremely valid trotters.
Swedes Jerry Eme and Umbra Hornline and French trotter Orion du Lys are registered to make their debut in the Gold class semi-finals.
The remaining races are five Silver class semi-finals with the first two horses from each making it to the final, three Bronze class semi-finals with the same number of qualifiers and two Copper class semi-finals with the first three from each qualifying for the particular Condition Race final.
Swede Carlos Primero will make its debut in the Silver class.
Favourites, outsiders, who will be the protagonists? Probably there will be a mix between them, but as always, uncertainty is one of the greatest attractions of horse-racing, with the results unfolding in front of spectactors’ eyes in the course of the respective meeting.
Last Meeting
In last Sunday’s Premier class race, Candy Fantasy took an early lead which it maintained throughout the race despite the attacks of its followers. Ultimately it claimed its first seasonal win by over two lengths from Knockout Molar followed by Oscar de la Vallee and Gentle Way. The winner clocked 1’16’7 per kilometre on the 2,140m distance.
In the Cassar Petroleum Gold class semi-finals, No Comprendo took its first seasonal win, taking the lead around 300m from the end and ending around one length ahead of Hulot, Paradis du Lupin and Quebec, in a time of 1’17’0 per kilometre. No Comprendo and Hulot made it to the final.
The second semi-final provided a great finish after an excellent sprint by both Ygor of Pass and Newman. The photo-finish awarded the win to the former by a nose in the meeting’s joint best time of 1’16’4 per kilometre. These two horses qualified for the final. Milano du Gite and Magnific As placed third and fourth respectively.
The final straight was also the determining phase of the only Silver class race, with Socrates making a good sprint to take the lead in the middle of the straight and going on to take its second seasonal win in a joint best time of the meeting of 1’16’4 per kilometre. Runner-up Kapro Wareco also made it to the final, whilst Prao de Bussy and Notice As finished in third and fourth place respectively.
In the class A flat race on a 1,750m distance, Timolin took an early lead which it maintained for most of the race, but it could not resist Cheeky Jack’s attack in the final straight, with the latter notching its third consecutive and seasonal win, a couple of lengths ahead of the same Timolin, with Wildnis finishing in third place.
The other winners were Donna Giant (first win in Malta) and Law Suit (third seasonal win) in the Bronze class and Esmeralda Run (at its third seasonal win and in Malta) in the Copper class.
Lectures on updated regulations
Over the last couple of years, a lot of work has been performed by the Malta Racing Club in updating its regulations. Now that the regulations are practically finalised, lectures have started being organised every Thursday for the coming weeks, so that the main features of these regulations would be explained to drivers in small groups.
These lectures are naturally extremely important in order to ensure that all drivers have a solid understanding of the updated regulations which will govern the races as from next season.
The Autumn Championship
I can hardly believe it, but we have already entered the last quarter of the year. A great time of the year for racing, with temperatures typically being neither too hot nor too cold.
We find the first prestigious championship of the second phase of the season – the Autumn Championship, once again sponsored by Cassar Petroleum.
A championship or final celebrating the Autumn season is found in various European countries but it is a relatively recent addition to the Maltese racing calendar.
The timing was too tight when the season used to start at around October and even in more recent years, the timing always seemed to conflict with something else!
Whether it was the SECF championships starting early or the first edition of the Swedish trotters’ championship in 2008 or the racecourse being closed for major refurbishment works in 2009, there always seemed to be something in the way!
But finally, this championship kicked off in 2010, a sort of counter-balance to the Tazza l-Kbira in the second half of the year: a championship for trotters of all nationalities with a grand final reserved for the Premier class and condition races for the other classes.
Dragonara Casino were the sponsors of that edition which, similarly to the Tazza l-Kbira, was raced on the rather long 2,640m distance. The other classes’ condition races were raced on the extremely long 3,140m distance.
Only two years have passed since then but in horse-racing terms that’s not a short time – Ready Cash had not even won its first Prix d’Amerique then!
After the heats, the Premier class semi-finals had been held on the 24th October. The first was won by Kakisis followed by Think Yatzee, with Mica Bonero triumphing ahead of Play on Me in the second. These horses were expected to be protagonists also in the final.
A great atmosphere reigned at the Marsa race-track on finals day, Sunday 7th November 2010. Unfortunately, Lipouz Lesmelchen and Think Yatzee, two potential protagonists, were scratched before the race.
So, the remaining finalists, six French, one Norwegian and one Swedish, were: Lou Petiot, Mica Bonero, Kain Poifond, Play on Me, Land Havaroche, My Red Force, Label Pont Vautier and Kakisis.
Kain Poifond took an early lead from Mica Bonero and Label Pont Vautier. Play on Me and Kakisis increased their speed at the start of the last lap, with the former entering the final straight at the head of the field.
By now the entire crowd was on its feet following the spectacular struggle between these two frontrunners. Kakisis was ultimately triumphant, claiming its fourth consecutive win (1’16’7 per km), by around one and a half lengths from Play on Me, followed by Lou Petiot and Land Havaroche.
Kakisis would consolidate its place in Maltese horse-racing history a few months later when it won the 2011 edition of the Tazza l-Kbira.
Last year, the Autumn Championship was sponsored by Cassar Petroleum, as is the case this year. The distance now became the current 2,140m, in an endeavour to create a contrast with the Tazza l-Kbira race distance and with the distance used in the final championships of the year.
The championship was another huge success with a big crowd attending the finals day. The Premier class win went to last year’s protagonist Livi Cantona in another exciting race, but we will leave that story for another day.
Now we turn to the present; a toast to another Cassar Petroleum Autumn Championship. We are seeing another exciting championship, with splendid struggles which should lead to the choice of finalists and another memorable final crowning this year’s winner.
We wish you two exciting meetings this weekend.
