by Magnat

Two race-meetings will be held at the Marsa racecourse this weekend, the first on Friday starting at 7pm, and then on Sunday with the first race commencing at 1.30pm.  Eight all-trot races will be on each racecard.

The main attractions of the two meetings are five great finals for all trot classes on a 2,140m distance for the Cassar Petroleum Autumn Championship and Condition Races.  The remaining “normal” races are on the sprint 1,640m distance.

This weekend’s highlight is undoubtedly the final for Premier class horses being held on Sunday. 

The full list of participants (9 geldings 2 stallions and 1 mare) originating in Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden is as follows:
1.  Zilver Boko, Dutch 6 year old, with overseas winnings of SEK235,743 and a best time of 1’13’4 per kilometre.  It won six times and placed another six times (not lower than 3rd place) in its 12 races in Malta and has a best time here of 1’14’9 per kilometre on 2,140m.
2.  Shakira Trot, Swedish 9 year old, with overseas winnings of SEK1,477,200 and a best time of 1’12’0 per kilometre.  It gained two wins and a place from its five races in Malta, with a best time here of 1’14’9 per kilometre on 2,140m.
3.  Veikko Hornline, Swedish 8 year old, with overseas winnings of SEK642,150 and a best time of 1’14’0 per kilometre.  It has one win and seven places (not lower than 3rd place) from 12 races in Malta and a best time here of 1’14’8 per kilometre on 2,140m.
4.  Noble d’Ete, French 11 year old, with overseas winnings of Euro175,740 and a best time of 1’14’3 per kilometre.  It has won twice and placed six times from 21 races in Malta and has a best time here  of 1’15’3 per kilometre on 2,640m.
5.  Think Yatzee, Swedish 13 year old, with overseas winnings of SEK2,796,286 and a best time of 1’11’6 per kilometre.  In Malta it won 17 times and placed 8 times in 4 years of racing here and has a best time of 1’13’3 per kilometre on 1,640m.  It has won various championships in Malta, including the Swedish trotters championship (3 times), the Sette Giugno Cup, the VOB Cup etc.
6.  Count of Life, Finnish 13 year old, with overseas winnings of Euro29,437 and a best time of 1’14’3 per kilometre.  It gained 10 wins and 39 places since it made its local debut in 2007 and a best time of 1’14’5 per kilometre on 1,640m.
7.  Livi Cantona, Swedish 8 year old, with overseas winnings of SEK306,090 and a best time of 1’12’9 per kilometre.  It has 13 wins (including the Cassar Fuels Autumn Championship, President’s Cup and December VOB Grand Final, all in 2011) and 10 places since its debut in Malta 2 years ago, with a best time of 1’14’7 per kilometre on 2,140m.
8.  Mont Cenis Honey, French 12 year old, with overseas winnings of Euro339,520 and a best time of 1’12’5 per kilometre.  It has 6 wins (including the December 2010 Prix de Vincennes) and a place from its 11 races in Malta with a local best time of 1’14’8 per kilometre (twice) on 2,140m.
9.  Troy Boshoeve, German 11 year old, with overseas winnings of DNK875,380 and a best time of 1’14’7 per kilometre.  It claimed 8 places from its 18 races locally with a best time of 1’15’5 per kilometre on 2,140m.
10.  Matrix Reloaded, Swedish 10 year old, with overseas winnings of SEK1,774,218 and a best time of 1’12’3 per kilometre.  It has placed 3 times from its 5 races in Malta so far and has a best time among us of 1’16’1 per kilometre on 2,140m.
11.  Maximal Value, Swedish 10 year old, with overseas winnings of SEK1,769,409 and a best time of 1’12’1 per kilometre.  It has 1 win and 1 place from its 6 races in Malta with a best time of 1’15’4 per kilometre on 2,140m.
12.  Celebrity Photo, Swedish 10 year old, with overseas winnings of Euro194,683 and a best time of 1’13’3 per kilometre.  It has 1 win from its 3 outings in Malta with a best time here of 1’15’1 per kilometre on 2,140m.

With nearly 60 wins and 90 places between them and having a mix of veterans and seasoned newcomers with nearly all of them having a best time of 1’15’5 per kilometre or better, we should be guaranteed a great final.

The Gold class final also includes various high profile trotters.  Aged between 7 and 11 years these have 8 wins and a multitude of places between them this season.  Nearly all the finalists have a best time this year of 1’16’5 per kilometre or better.

Consisting of five French, three Swedes, one Dane and one Dutch, the full list of horses is:  Ygor of Pass, Newman, Ollico Pellois, Ozerio, Keeping Quality, Baron G.L., Netter Williams, No Comprendo, Orion du Vaumicel and Hulot.

The Silver class finalists are aged between 7 and 15 years. They have already registered 12 wins plus a good number of places between them and nearly all of them have a best time this year of 1’17’4 per kilometre or better.

Seven Swedes, 4 French and 1 German, the full list of horses is: Lass John, Pampero Maybe, Socrates, Simb From Abroad, Kapro Wareco, Rally Samb, Lucas Ness, Black Guy, Kandy du Frutier, Pilote de Nganda, Orio de Marancourt and Julian Port.

The Bronze class horses have won no less than 14 races between them this season apart from numerous places and most of them have a best time this year of 1’17’3 per kilometre or better, i.e. similar to the best times of the Silver class finalists.  The participants’ ages vary between 8 and 15 years and they hail from Sweden (five), France (four), and Denmark (one).

The full list is:  Emil Brebro, Noli de Marray, Marchallah, Ingo Moon, Hawkear, Syllabub, Napol de Mai, Law Suit, Donna Giant and One Fouteau.

The Copper class horses include the largest age variety of the finals, between 4 years and 16 years. 

Seven finalists hail from Sweden and two from France, having already won eleven times (and placed various times) between them this year, whilst all have a current seasonal best time of 1’18’5 per kilometre or better.  The full list is:  Malta Sara B, Orasi Index, Esmeralda Run, Jet Starline, Dandy, Mirage d’Ete, Verdi Broline, Ksar and Kung Fjalar.

The other races are all equally exciting sprint races and we are all eager for more good times as we had last week. 

One of these is a normal Premier class race with thirteen participants, including two horses coming from a win in their last race, i.e. Candy Fantasy and Mars, VOB Cup winner Label Chouan and a number of other popular horses looking for better form than they showed in recent outings.  It will be interesting to see which horses show a distinct preference for this very short distance.

The following new horses are registered to make their debut in these races: Eject (SE), Nectar de Bootz (FR) and Opus de Feline (FR) in the Gold class and Count Wiesnievski (SE) in the Silver class.

Finals meetings are always exciting and when one adds the extra attraction of the fast times typically associated with sprint races, we look forward to two meetings giving us plenty to shout about! 

Last Meeting

The sprint 1,640m distance promised some fast times and it really did not disappoint!

Indeed, we had two times of 1’14’0 per kilometre, being the seasonal best times in Malta to date.

One of these was clocked in the Premier class, where Target Player had the fastest start and it maintained its lead for approximately the first half of the race, at which stage, Sultan November took over at the helm. 

However with around 400m from the end, I Pitstop attacked strongly, went in front and looked set to win the race, but just a few metres from the finishing post, it changed gait and was disqualified,  Thus the win went to Oncle Sam, at its first win in Malta in the excellent time of 1’14’0 per kilometre, around two lengths ahead of Nitesco d’Anthony, followed by Nagano Phedo and Sultan November.

The second seasonal best was surprisingly registered in the Copper class, where around three-quarters of a lap from the end, Ariane A accelerated strongly, went in front and continued to increase its advantage until the end, notching its second seasonal win by over 10 lengths in the said time of 1’14’0 per kilometre.  Louise Wood, Luriga Liz and Rybo Patzie finished behind the winner in that order, creating also the rarity of 4 mares occupying the first four places.

The final straight determined the result in the Gold class race, where ST Andrew LB took the lead at the start of the straight and dominated its pursuers to claim its first win in Malta by around one and a half lengths from runner-up Imbra d’Alfa, followed by Quid de la Muette and Quipo de Billeron.  The winner’s time was also extremely good at 1’14’4 per kilometre.

The other trot races resulted in wins for Icare de Jemma (fifth seasonal win) and Mr King (second seasonal win) in the Bronze class and Baronello (first seasonal win) and Lonestar Somolli (fourth seasonal win) which won the closest finish of the day, in the Silver class.

Interestingly we had an impressive variety in ages among the race winners, from the extremely young Ariane A (5 years) to four 9 and 10 year old horses (ST Andrew LB, Baronello, Lonestar Somolli and Oncle Sam) to two veterans, Mr King and Icare de Jemma (14 and 16 years respectively).

In the class A flat race, it was Marivan which took an early lead on the sprint 1,250m distance and it  maintained it until the beginning of the final straight when it was overtaken by Timolin which went on to claim its first seasonal win by around one and a half lengths from newcomer Four Richer, followed by Privilidged Boy.

The importance of the Regulations

Currently, the judges of the Malta Racing Club are conducting lectures for drivers to explain the main aspects of the updated racing regulations.

The project to update the said regulations has taken a couple of years to be completed and these will now be in force as from the start of the 2013 season. 

It’s not been a short time, but one has to bear in mind the other work that the Malta Racing Club regularly carries out, the fact that much work is performed by volunteers, the detailed nature of the regulations, the need to consult UET rules, discussions that needed to be carried out, etc.

However all this work is indeed worthwhile because the regulations ultimately regulate the conduct of horse-racing in Malta.  This may at first sight appear as something merely “legal” and which is not of immediate importance for owners, trainers, drivers etc.

But this is not the case at all.  The contents of these regulations can make a difference between winning a race and being disqualified, between qualifying for a final and being passed over, determining which medical substances are prohibited, what is the penalty for committing a particular offence etc.

The decisions and actions taken by the horse-racing competent authorities (MRC, judges etc) in Malta are based on the content of the regulations. 

We may not necessarily agree with all the regulations, as much as we may not agree with all the laws of Malta.  We all have and are all entitled to our opinions, and laws and regulations often need to deal with controversial issues.

Should a particular medication be banned or not, should a horse be disqualified on committing a particular act?  We will all have our different opinions on whether a particular rule is just or not, but the exercise that was carried out was aimed to create just rules and as long as a particular rule remains in the regulations we must abide by it.

Ultimately a set of regulations is a code of conduct which binds all members of a community, in our case, the horse-racing community.  If a particular rule is followed by some and not by all members, then it becomes unfair; being a member of any club or society means that one and all are obliged to follow its rules.

This makes it extremely important to read through the regulations and to understand them and their implications. 

It is equally important to attend for and follow attentively the lectures on the regulations which are being held by the Malta Racing Club, to ask questions where something might not be clear (and not to wait until we are directly affected by a particular rule when it might then be too late to correct what we may have done).

Interested persons are also welcome to provide their feedback on particular aspects of the regulations which may be improved.  No law or regulation is ever perfect and it can always be improved.
 
What is important is that when we form our views about particular regulations, we do not just consider our (or our horses’) particular situation only and how rules can favour our circumstances, but rather what is fair and just for the common good.

Ultimately, the patient exercise of updating our regulations to reflect today’s reality will be another small contribution to the progress of horse-racing in Malta. 

May we all apply these regulations with fairness and sportsmanship in the best interest of our sport.

We wish you two exciting meetings this weekend.