by Magnat

Another race-meeting will be held at the Marsa racecourse next Sunday, with the first race commencing at 1.30pm. Seven trot races and one flat race are on the card with the trot races being over the 2,140m distance whilst thoroughbreds compete over 1,750m.

The main attraction is the Premier class race seeing 14 registered trotters, including the winner of the Cassar Petroleum Autumn Championship Troy Boshoeve and various horses coming from a good place in their last outings, such as Nitesco d’Anthony, Skip Dimanche, Magic de Assigny and Narval d’Ecajeul.

One can also note a number of horses making their return to racing after being away for quite a long time, such as Play On Me (nearly 2 years), Mentor de l’Iton (a year), Indian Attack and Nino de Saintho (9 months) and Nec Carmolo (nearly 7 months).

We also have two interesting Silver class races with fields of 16 and 15 horses respectively. Both are extremely balanced, with horses in each race being within not more than 11 handicap points difference between them in the MRC classification.

These include various horses coming from promising performances in their last outings, including recent winners Icare de Jemma, No Commentary, Noli de Marray and Socrates, and horses which took good placings such as Arctic Tooma, Cross Country F.C., Lacoste I.T., Notice As, Syllabub and others. Italian newcomer National Brown is due to debut in the first Silver class race.

The other trot races are two for the Bronze class and the other for Copper class horses.

The class A flat race sees a field of seven horses hailing from Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy and the USA, including the best performers of the last weeks, Cheeky Jack (two wins from its two races in this second phase of the season) and Timolin (a win and two runner-up positions in the last six weeks).

Of the other participants, recent newcomer Four Richer had an encouraging debut a couple of weeks ago taking a runner-up placing, whilst Privilidged Boy placed 3rd in its return after a stop of some months.

Many racing enthusiasts undoubtedly prefer the excitement associated with finals, such as those of last week, but there are others who argue that having a strong dose of “normal” races in the calendar is also important so as not to put undue pressurise on our horses by having too many do-or-die commitments over a relatively short period. Indeed, we need a bit of everything to create variety; hence the attraction of “normal” race meetings such as next Sunday’s!

Last Meetings

The main attractions of last weekend’s meetings were five trot finals for the Cassar Petroleum Autumn Championship (Premier class) and Condition Races (all other classes) on a 2,140m distance.

The most prestigious final was that for Premier class horses which was held on Sunday. Shakira Trot took an early lead which it maintained for approximately the first half of the race despite a continuous challenge from Veikko Hornline. At the start of the last lap, Mont Cenis Honey moved to the front and maintained its lead until the start of the final straight when it struggled head-to-head with Zilver Boko and was overtaken by the latter.

However thanks to an incredible sprint, 100m from the end, German Troy Boshoeve came strongly from the inner lanes, took the lead and won the Cassar Petroleum Autumn Championship – it’s first win in Malta, in a time of 1’15’5 per kilometre – by a length from Zilver Boko, followed by last year’s winner Livi Cantona and Shakira Trot.

In the Cassar Petroleum Gold class Condition race, Netter Williams (Redent Magro) went in front in the last lap and managed to keep a good speed and to resist all attacks. It thus claimed its third consecutive and fourth seasonal win by a clear length from Ozerio, Ygor of Pass and Baron GL in that order in a time of 1’16’0 per kilometre.

In the Silver class Condition race, Kapro Wareco led practically throughout the whole race, but in the middle of the final straight it suffered a determined challenge from Simb From Abroad (Raymond Micallef) which went on to take its first win in Malta by just a head from Kapro Wareco, followed by Black Guy and Pilote de Nganda. The winner’s time was of 1’16’3 per kilometre.

The final straight was again the determining factor in the Bronze class Condition race, when Marchallah which had been in the lead for practically the entire race, was overtaken in the final straight by Napol de Mai (Ronald Cassar) which registered its first seasonal win by about one and a half lengths from the same Marchallah, followed by Law Suit and Syllabub in a time of 1’17’6 per kilometre.

The Copper class Condition race was led for long stretches by Esmeralda Run (Redent Magro) and Dandy, but around half a lap from the end, the former took a decisive lead which it maintained till the end, to claim its second consecutive and fourth seasonal win in another time of 1’17’6 per kilometre, about a length in front of the said Dandy, followed by Jet Starline and Orasi Index.

The race distance was the extremely short 1,640m in the remaining races. The Premier class race saw Candy Fantasy in the lead throughout the race to claim its second consecutive and seasonal win in a time of 1’15’9 per kilometre, around two lengths ahead of Mars, Magic de Assigny and Narval d’Ecajeul.

The three Gold class races had varied stories. In the first Quebec took the lead in the final straight in the course of notching its first seasonal win in the joint best time of the weekend of 1’15’1 per kilometre, around two and a half lengths ahead of runner-up Key Value.

In the second, we had a great finish with four horses sprinting together, with the winner finally being Petrus du Vivier (fifth seasonal win) by about a head from Novak in another time of 1’15’1 per kilometre, while Side Spin was in the lead for practically the entire third race taking its second seasonal win by about a length from Paleo de la Dives, in a time of 1’15’5 per kilometre.

Driver of the Month award

The driver of the month award for October was won by Redent Magro on the strength of the five wins he registered, in particular the two Condition Race finals, together with two places, from the eleven races he participated in during that month. He gained wins on Netter Williams in the Cassar Petroleum Condition Race for the Gold class, on Ermeralda Run in the Cassar Petroleum Condition Race final for the Copper class, on Simb Groovy in the Silver class and on the same Netter Williams in the Gold class. He took runner-up positions with Flying Cowboyland in the Copper class and placed 4th with Onwards Star in the Silver class.

We convey our heartfelt congratulations to Redent for this success!

Our horses’ past and present

As we all know, Malta is not a racehorse-breeding country and our horses are practically all imported. France and Sweden account for around 90% of our trotters with the remainder originating in a handful of other countries, whilst Ireland and Great Britain currently account between them for two thirds of our country’s new thoroughbreds.

No doubt, we lose something by not breeding our horses. The excitement of a new foal being born, following its growth, its habits, the first races etc. However, we have to acknowledge the small size of our country, our limited resources and the other restrictions to being successful in this field.

Close to 90% of trotters are aged eight or older when they come to Malta. Many might say that most of them are past their prime when they arrive here and to some extent this may be true because by that time they would have typically raced for 5 years or more overseas.

Some might also be injured or at least not in perfect physical and psychological condition, with their negative habits ingrained and difficult to remove.

On the other hand, this characteristic provides us with a lot of variety, with horses coming from different countries and backgrounds. And with ready-made horses which already have a lot of racing experience overseas.

And similarly to human beings, some of them defy nature and although they may not have been stars in their youth, they continue to improve with age. We can all cite examples of horses which did not do much in their country of origin, but proved to be brilliant here in Malta.

One of the things I enjoy doing is to follow on a regular basis the 9 and 10 year old trotters racing in France and Sweden (time pressures and access to information stop me from doing this also in other countries). Television and internet are great tools from that perspective!

This is the age at which such horses typically stop racing in those countries and a number of them come to continue their career in Malta – 9 year olds or older account for around 90% of French newcomers and around 55% of Swedish newcomers.

Following such horses in their original environment is extremely interesting and tells us a lot about a horse’s preferences and attributes. Ultimately all our stars used to race in foreign racecourses before coming to Malta.

The preferred race distances, the preferred climatic conditions, whether it prefers to run clockwise or vice versa, how prone it is to injuries, whether it has a calm or nervous temperament, whether its owners race it too often, how often it runs barefoot, what type of ground it prefers to run on, what is the state of its morale, whether it has a track record of giving up or being disqualified etc.

It is impressive how the number of trotters still competing in these countries dwindle as the horses get older. For instance, from April of their 10th year to December of that year (before their compulsory retirement from French racecourses), typically less than 100 French horses would have made at least one appearance. The rest would have withdrawn from their country for one reason or another.

Some would have been retired because they cannot keep up with the competition. Indeed in such countries, as a horse’s winnings increase, it faces tougher competition and often races at a handicap with younger horses which typically have less winnings because they have not yet raced so much, but which probably are fresher and healthier than their older counterparts.

So, following such horses in their country of origin at these ages and for an extended period of time, gives us the opportunity of watching their performances in some of the toughest races of their career and gives an indication of what physical resources and morale that they still have if they continue their career in Malta.

Naturally, those that continue their career here open another chapter in their lives, one which often contains surprises, whether for the good or the bad. However, following these horses in the last years of their career overseas enables us to dream about the future stars at the Marsa racecourse - ultimately they remain the same horses, whether overseas or in Malta!

We wish you another exciting meeting next Sunday.