by Magnat

The Cup Days organised in this registration come to an end on Sunday with a seven race, all-trot race card starting at 2.30pm.

Although not including many races, this meeting has the major attraction of two Premier class races and a Gold class race for horses having handicap points close to those of the Premier class. All races are over the 2,140m distance.

Featuring 12 horses, a major attraction of the first Premier class race consists of the 4 newcomers of high quality – Swedes Totti T. Dream and T.X. Zoogood, French Orgeuil de Nganda and German Vanmaker Limburgia. The first three are featured in the concluding part of this article.

The other horses are also popular ones, including Absolut Spender and Sultan November both coming from a win in their last race, Normand d’Oger which has a win and a place in its last three races in March, Ohime Mag with a win in its penultimate race, Ourasi Diams coming from two places in its last three outings and Ofackevo having a runner-up place in March, among others.

Featuring 11 participants, the second Premier class race has a line-up which is truly worthy of a final:

- Nabab du Chatelet, returning after its brilliant Dragonara Tazza l-Kbira win and three straight wins,
- Fire coming from two consecutive wins (three in total so far this year),
- Okiliabo coming from three straight places including its third place in the Dragonara Tazza l-Kbira final,
- last year’s June VOB Grand Final winner Label Chouan coming from a runner-up position,
- 2011 Tazza l-Kbira winner and last December’s VOB Grand Final winner Kakisis which also has a win and a place in its last three outings,
- Wiss Night Hawk, winner of last year’s Skyparks Championship for Swedish Premier class trotters,
- last year’s President’s Cup winner Mont Cenis Honey,
- Oran, having a win and two runner-up positions in its five races in Malta so far,
- past multiple championship winners Arnie Sensation and Think Yatzee (the latter returning after a four and a half month absence), and
- Mars, runner-up in this year’s Assikura A Championship and runner-up in its penultimate race in a very good time.

One Danish, four Swedish and seven French trotters which guarantee an open and extremely exciting race.

The Gold class race should be equally interesting. Among the in-form horses, it features Pepone du Castelet coming from two wins and a place in its last three races, Nobleness Dubrio and Octobre En Fete both coming from two wins in their last three outings and Charm Hammering having a win and a place in its last three races.

Furthermore, Nophenio de Lune, Oolong and Baron G.L. all have two places in their last three outings, whilst Natif de Salvi, Jerry Eme and Simb Tyrant all placed in their last race. The remainder are also extremely valid horses. French Pegase d’Ariane is registered to debut in this race.

The programme also includes two balanced Silver class races, with a number of in-form trotters, some of which have won or placed well over the last couple of months, such as Ocean Brillouard, Quo Vadis Phedo, Mint Condition, Nasdaq du Closet, Pascal d’Ablon, Pilote de Nganda, Matador Knick and Victory Farming in the first and Pile Ou Face, Que Je T’Aime Rush, Orio de Marancourt, Obi Wan Kenobi, Norfolk de Gouerie, Milano du Gite, Cross Country F.C. and Mealington in the second, among all the valid horses participating in these two races.

The meeting starts with a Copper class race followed by one reserved for Bronze class horses, with Swede Nevada Sun being registered to debut in the latter.

So, a race meeting featuring various popular horses competing over the beautiful 2,140m distance. Although all distances are attractive, many argue that that of 2,140m is one of the most popular, because while being long enough to test participants’ race strategy it is also short enough to provide fast, exciting races. Furthermore, it is the distance for the main appointments of the next couple of months, such as the SECF French trotters’ championships, the Sette Giugno Cup, the VOB Grand Final and the Summer Championships.

Last Meetings

All races in the last two meetings were on short distances, 2,140m for trotters and 1,250m for thoroughbreds.

The main attractions were primarily the two Premier class races. The second seasonal best time on the 2,140m distance was registered in one of them last Sunday, i.e. 1’14’6 per kilometre.

This race saw Oviedo Vici taking an early lead followed by Argus Hanover. The former remained in front until around 650m from the end when it was overtaken among others by Assikura A Championship winner Argus Hanover which continued to apply a strong pace until the end, to claim its third seasonal win in the afore-mentioned very good time, two lengths ahead of newcomer Olry Meslois, which preceded Celebrity Photo and Skars Hanna in that order.

In Wednesday’s race, it was Magic de Assigny which went in front first, but it was soon overtaken by Belafonte which maintained the lead for most of the race, until the early part of the final straight, when after a good acceleration on the outer lanes in the last 400m, Simb Mark overtook the race leader and dominated the last part of the race to win comfortably by about 3 lengths, its second seasonal win, in a time of 1’15’7 per kilometre. Olympien Major, Of Course Ramble and Belafonte followed the winner in that order.

Hulot was in the lead for most of Sunday’s first Gold class race, but Phenix de la Roque advanced head to head with the race leader a lap from the end. These two horses continued running head-to-head until the final straight when Phenix de la Roque was the stronger of the two in the sprint to the finish post, going in front in the middle of the final straight and notching its second consecutive and seasonal win by about one and a half lengths from the same Hulot, followed by Niky de Memartin and Touch The Diamond in a time of 1’16’7 per kilometre.

Oscar Indien took an early lead in the second Gold class race, remaining in front until around 600m from the end, when Power Night Star took the lead as a result of a strong attack on the back straight, with the latter keeping up the strong pace until the end, resisting Happiness Photo’s attack in the last metres and taking its first seasonal win by over a length from the said Happiness Photo, followed by Orage du Pont and Carnegie Hall, in a time of 1’16’1 per kilometre.

In Wednesday’s Gold class race, Podium was in front for most of the race, until it was overtaken by Pissaro in the last bend before the final straight. In the meantime, around 400m from the end, Xray Hornline had started a strong sprint which led it to overtake one and all by the middle of the final straight, ultimately claiming its first win in Malta by an impressive four lengths in a time of 1’16’0 per kilometre. Udice Boko, Paleo de la Dives and Nuper finished behind the winner in that order.

With the starting gates filled with eight participants, the Class A flat race developed in a two horse challenge between Cheeky Jack and Darielli, which ran head-to-head until the start of the final straight when the former, last year’s Coronation Cup winner shook off Darielli’s challenge and won comfortably in 1’13’77, the seasonal best time over this sprint distance so far. Henderlik pipped Darielli for runner-up.

Some news from the racecourse ...

As always, either no news or a lot of news!

The following are some items of news coming out of the Marsa racecourse over the last week:

(i) Doping test results
Recently the Malta Racing Club received six further doping test results. Congratulations go to the owners and trainers of Orio de Marancourt, Octobre En Fete, Pepone du Castelet, Royal Qui and Quingen de Bussy, all relative to their win in the Condition Race finals held on the 31st March and the 5th April, as well as to those of Timolin, relative to its win in the Chukkas Cup final for thoroughbreds, the results of which showed that they were clean from prohibited substances.

(ii) Agreement with Racebets.com
In its continuous efforts to source funds which can be injected into the Maltese horse-racing scene for the good of owners and all participants in this sports, after reaching an agreement with French PMU some time ago, the Malta Racing Club has recently entered into an agreement with Racebets.com, a company operating a website offering betting on races from across the world.

Thus, betting can now take place on Maltese horse-races from all over the world over the internet. Another first for Maltese horse-racing!

This provides additional international coverage for our races and introduces another potential revenue source for the Malta Racing Club, which can be used for the benefit of Maltese horse-racing. Naturally, any betting should take place in a responsible manner.

(iii) Sincere Condolences

We join the racing community in conveying our sincere condolences to the relatives and loved ones of Mikiel Seychell, known as “tas-Sidi” and Chris Busuttil, known as “il-Bomber”, who unfortunately both died last week. They will be sorely missed.

May they rest in peace and may their relatives and loved ones find comfort during these sorrowful times.

(iv) New horses registered with highest number of handicap points

In these columns I always provide some background about trotters which are registered with the highest number of handicap points for newcomers, i.e. 520 points. Being so registered is clear indication that by our standards the particular horse would have had a successful career overseas before being imported to Malta.

Some of these horses have been successful also in Malta, with horses such as Arnie Sensation, James de l’Iton, Joker de Choisel, Kakisis, Think Yatzee and others immediately springing to mind, among others.

However this is not always the case because typically aged between 9 and 12 years and after often racing over a 100 races overseas, some of these horses, even if successful in their foreign career, may necessarily be in a perfect condition physically and psychologically (particularly in terms of their morale) when they start racing in Malta.

So, their success in Malta is a bit of a “closed box” until we see them training and racing in Malta.

However, having among us horses having well-known names abroad is undoubtedly prestigious and something that we look forward to because after following such horses on television and internet for so long, it is marvellous to have the opportunity to follow them from close by in our racetrack.

It is also further proof of the quality of the race horses racing in Malta and of the sacrifices that horse owners make in order to acquire horses of the highest quality.

The three newcomers registered with the highest number of points for newcomers that are due to debut on Sunday all have something original; one is the French trotter with the highest overseas winnings, another is the Swedish trotter with the highest overseas winnings and the other is the newcomer with the best personal record this year. Interestingly too, although in different countries, all three were in very good form in 2010 and 2011.

We provide the following background about each of them as a complement and a note of thanks, not just to them and their owners, but also to all owners who make so much sacrifice to acquire and bring to race among us, the best horses that they can afford. A big thank you to all of them:

11-year old gelding Orgueil de Nganda is the French horse with the highest winnings making its debut so far this year, having won Euro513,090 overseas, earned through 11 wins and numerous places. It registered its best time of 1’12’1 per kilometre at Vincennes in November 2010 on 2,100m. Orgueil de Nganda had some of its best performances between August 2010 and December 2011, including its best time plus 5 wins and 17 places between 2nd and 5th, with various races having high prize-money, some of which close to or higher than Euro100,000, in which he beat brilliant horses such as Obelo Darche, Picsou de Villabon, Pluto du Vivier, Risque Tout, Rolling d’Heripre and others.

12-year old gelding Totti T. Dream is the Swedish trotter with the highest winnings making its debut so far this year, having won SEK1,965,853 overseas, earned through 26 wins and many places. It has a best time of 1’11’5 per kilometre on 1,609m clocked at Tingsryd in June 2012. From 2010 to 2012 it registered some great performances, including its best time plus no less than 21 wins and over 20 places in the top five, with various races having high prize-money. Among its best races is its second place in the Gold Division Meadow Prophets Minne on 2,140m (total prize-money SEK400,000) at Jagerso on 26th November 2011, when it also beat the famous Maharajah.

10-year old stallion T.X. Zoogood is another well-known trotter in Sweden having winnings of SEK1,504,207, earned through 13 wins and various places. It has the best time among all newcomers to Malta this year of 1’11’3 per kilometre made at Tingsryd on 1,609m in June 2011. Between 2010 and 2012 it registered its best time and collected 3 wins and 24 places in the top 5, including some in races having high prize-money.

We wish you another great meeting on Sunday.