by Magnat
Two race meetings will be held at the Marsa racetrack over the next week, first on Friday 12th July starting at 7pm and then the following Friday 19th July starting at 6.15pm and consisting of 8 and 9 trot races respectively, all on a 2,140m distance. These races are the last qualifiers from the Summer championships, with all finalists for the 26th July finals being known after these races.
Once again the highlights of these meetings consist of two Premier class races, one in each meeting, featuring 10 participants each.
This week’s race includes recent winners Absolut Spender and Olry Meslois together with other in-form horses Give To Get, Magic de Assigny, Simb Mark, Vanmaker Limburgia and Olympien Major, whilst Oviedo Vici, Milord Barbes and Prince de la Butte are in search of their best form.
Participants in next week’s Premier class race are among those with the highest handicap points in the Malta Racing Club classification. These include Lage, winner of two of its last three races, Shakira Trot winner of its penultimate race, Orne des Olivettes runner-up in the recent VOB Grand Final, Label Chouan, Orly Montaval and True Q, which all had good places in their last race, past Prix de Vincennes and President’s Cup winner Mont Cenis Honey as well as Nevaio des Bordes, Orgueil de Nganda and Start Brodde all endeavouring to improve their form.
This week’s Gold class race is full of well-known trotters such as three time winner Orage du Pont, double winner Blizzard AD and horses such as Oscar Mati, Ouf Boy, Ygor of Pass and Veikko Hornline which have placed well over the last weeks.
Next week’s meeting also features two Gold class races with an impressive number of participants coming from good wins or places in their last outings. These include horses such as Perdreau Rapide, Player du Mirel, Oolong, Nophenio de Lune, Pic Soyer, Podium, Imbra d’Alfa, Simb Tyrant and Little Nick among others.
However, even the other horses will certainly provide a strong challenge in their last opportunity to be protagonists of the Summer championships finals. Swedish newcomer Midnight Passion and Italian Masson del Ronco are registered to make their debut in this class next week.
Special attention should also be dedicated to the remaining races, consisting of six for the Silver class and three each for the Bronze and Copper classes.
These races include some of the most consistent trotters this year, with many of them having already earned multiple wins, such as Zeta Jones A and Lemon Solo with four wins each, Royal Qui, Loulou de la Rose, Ywema’s Pine, Andri Boko, Mr Snowman with three each and other valid horses.
They also feature Swedish newcomer Roma M in the Silver class, French debutants Poustouf du Bleuet and Queen du Sablier in the Silver class and Italian new horses Principessa Caf in the Bronze class and Ruriz in the Copper class. Interestingly, at just 3 years old, the latter is the youngest newcomer in Malta for various years.
Despite the fact that we are in mid-summer, no less than 215 trotters have been registered for these two meetings, thus further confirming the popularity of the Summer championships. Now, as horses and humans prepare for the summer break, these championships are nearing their climax with the participating horses trying to book one of the coveted places in the respective final.
Last Meetings
The last couple of meetings were entirely reserved for the trotters’ Summer Championships with eight and ten races respectively, all on the 2,140m distance.
Interestingly, all the winners in the Premier and Gold classes registered their second seasonal win and this was also the case for three of the Silver class winners.
The highlights of these meetings consisted of two Premier class races, one in each meeting. The lead changed hands a number of times at the start of the first race, until Oviedo Vici took over with around 1,500m to go.
This horse maintained the lead until the middle of the final straight when it was overtaken by Simb Mark; but within a few metres, the latter could do nothing to stop Absolut Spender from claiming its second seasonal win in a time of 1’15’9 per kilometre, around a length and a half from the same Simb Mark, followed by Magic de Assigny and Give To Get in a pack of six horses following the winner.
In the following week’s Premier class race, it was True Q which was the first to go in front but half a lap later it was overtaken by Lage. From then on, the race had no story as Lage remained securely in control, even increasing its speed in the last half lap to detach itself completely from the other horses and to also claim its second seasonal win in an excellent time of 1’14’6 per kilometre, four lengths ahead of Label Chouan, followed by Orly Montaval and True Q.
In the only Gold class race held on the 27th June, Ygor of Pass went in front after just 400m, a position it maintained until the final straight, when Blizzard AD produced a sensational sprint which led it from the middle of the pack to the front with around 60m to go, notching its second seasonal win in 1'17'0 per kilometre, a length ahead of the strong finishing Orage du Pont, with Ygor of Pass and Ouf Boy claiming the remaining places.
After two false starts, in the first Gold class race in the 5th July meeting, Chippen Bob went in front after about 500m, but its driver let go of the lead just before the start of the last lap, with Imbra d’Alfa taking over. However Chippen Bob continued following the race leader like a shadow, launching its attack around 450m from the end, to go in front and despite Perdreau Rapide’s determined attack in the final stratight Chippen Bob notched its second consecutive and seasonal win, a length ahead of Perdreau Rapide, followed by Simb Tyrant and Podium in 1’16’5 per kilometre.
Then it was Oolong’s turn to record its second seasonal win. After the first few hundred metres it was Oscar Mati which went in front, but on the back straight Oolong started a strong attack on the outer lanes which brought it to challenge for first place within a few hundred metres. It took the lead around 500m from the end detaching itself fast from the rest of the field to win by more than four lengths in 1’16’3 per kilometre. Little Nick, Oscar Mati and Nophenio de Lune claimed the places in that order.
The Silver class races in the 27th June meeting saw two 9 year old winners triumphing thanks to a strong sprint in the final straight. First it was Quartes which powered to its first win in Malta in a great time for this class of 1’15’2 per kilometre, around three lengths ahead of Que Je T’Aime Rush, followed by Quaraldo at its second seasonal win a length ahead of Zandina Boshoeve in 1’16’9 per kilometre.
On the 5th July, the Silver class races first saw Really Good attacking in a determined manner with half a lap to go, managing to go in front and dominating the final straight to take its first win in Malta, one and a half lengths ahead of Quiara Magic in 1’17’5 per kilometre.
Paolin de Bannes dominated the second race, taking an early lead and maintaining it throughout, increasing its speed in the last half lap to also claim its second consecutive and seasonal win by no less than five lengths from Marco Barbes in 1’17’0 per kilometre.
Then Side Spin also registered its second consecutive and seasonal win, taking the lead a few hundred metres from the start and controlling the race to win comfortably by a couple of lengths from Anguz R.C., in a time of 1’16’4 per kilometre.
The final Silver class race saw Socrates claiming its first seasonal win thanks to a strong sprint two-wide with 400m to go. It powered to the lead from Pile Ou Face in the middle of the final straight to win by around one and a half lengths from the same Pile Ou Face in 1’16’8 per kilometre.
French – Maltese Encounter Race in Carprentras
On the initiative of a number of drivers, a French - Maltese encounter race was held at the Carpentras racecourse in France on Saturday 29th June, between six Maltese drivers and an equivalent number of French drivers.
This was the Prix Charriere Distribution Aliments Equine (total prize-money Euro3,000) on a 2,650m distance and reserved for amateur trotters aged between 6 and 9 years whose winnings do not reach Euro91,000. The race was won by Sirocco du Lys driven by French driver Sophie Blanchetiere followed by Top Price de Chenu driven by another French driver Nadine Despres, with third place going to Maltese driver Joe Schembri driving Rubis du Palais.
Andre Farrugia placed fifth on Sirien de Beaulieu and Jeffrey Xerri’s The Kid du Desert was seventh, with the other participating Maltese drivers being Andrew Farrugia, Christian Felice and Joseph Galea.
During the same meeting, Ivan Bilocca competed in the Prix Ecurie Sylvain Roubart (open for amateur trotters aged between 6 and 9 years whose winnings do not reach Euro114,000 – total prize-money Euro3,000), also on a 2,650m distance and finished third driving Record de Tillard.
In any case, results are secondary in such races. Well done to all these drivers for this very positive initiative which gave them useful international experience, enabling them to enhance their talents and their international contacts.
Prestigious Win for Michael Sultana in Italy
On Friday 5th July, Michael Sultana registered a prestigious win in Italy at the Siracusa racetrack in Sicily, leading five year old thoroughbred Dasho to a great win in the Premio Internazionale d’Italia (Euro11,000 total prize-money) on a 1,100m distance, ahead of Class Life (Antonio Cannella) and Assedio (G Gentilesca).
Well done Michael for this marvellous win!
Driver of the Month – June
The Driver of the Month for June is Rodney Gatt, who won this award on the basis of the four wins he realised in the 2nd June meeting, as well as winning the Sette Giugno Cup (for Premier class trotters) in the 7th June meeting, on Orcas Bac, a horse which he had never driven before.
In June Rodney won 7 races and placed in 8 others from the 35 races he competed in.
He won on Ywema’s Pine (twice, Bronze class), Sjohultets Tigra (Bronze class), Perdreau Rapide (Silver class), Xray Horline (Gold class), Orcas Bac (Sette Giugno Cup – Premier class) and Shakira Trot (Premier class).
Well done Rodney!
We wholeheartedly thank Equine Supreme for supporting this initiative by sponsoring this edition.
The Summer Championships twenty years ago
With the first edition of the Summer Championships being held in 1992, but with that edition being structured as the first edition of the President’s Cup, it had to be the following year (i.e. 20 years ago) that the Summer Championships earned their separate identity as an independent championship.
No floodlights existed at the time, with evening meetings having to be timed to finish before pitch darkness, aided by the longer days at this time of the year. Meetings used to start early compared with today, at around 5.45pm, and to be restricted to just six races per meeting.
The 1993 Summer Championship had a sponsor, John Bull English Ale, with meetings being organised on Thursdays rather than Fridays, as happens today.
Attendances were very good throughout the championship with spectators even exceeding 2,000 in some meetings, better than today’s attendances. This can possibly be attributed to the fact that this was then still a new initiative and also because less activities existed to attract spectators than is the case today.
(i) Championships structure
Six championships were organised, for each of the class A1 (today’s Premier class), classes A and B together (Gold class), classes C and D together (Silver class), classes E and F together (today’s Bronze class), class G (the upper part of today’s Copper class) and class H (the lower part of today’s Copper class).
All championships involved autostart races over the short 2,160m distance.
The A & B, C & D and E & F championships had three phases, i.e. heats, semi-finals and final, with the finalists for the A1, G and H championships being selected directly at the first phase.
The heats and semi-finals were held on the 24th June, 1st July, 8th July and 15th July, with the last summer racecard, i.e. the finals day, being held on the 22nd July.
(ii) The semi-finals
The semi-finals from each class had these results:
A1: The first semi-final was won by Sam Grandchamp in 1’17’1 per kilometre (the joint best time of that year’s summer championships) followed by fellow- qualifiers Sergio Corleone, Wichy Vat and Singapour. Sage des Castelets triumphed in the second semi-final in a time of 1’17’4 per kilometre, with Sire de Curgies, Ring Leader and Queiroz du Dauphin also making it to the final.
A/B: Hasty Yankee repeated its success in the heats by winning the first semi-final in a time of 1’17’3 per kilometre, followed by Sanit, Rapide de Mortree and Sherif de Bretagne in that order, with Ragnar Viking coming up trumps in the second semi-final in a comfortable victory ahead of Rivoli, Saik and Peter Pride in a time of 1’18’1 per kilometre.
C/D: Qoppa won the first semi-final in a time of 1’17’5 per kilometre ahead of First Serve, Clarito and Regal du Pont, whilst My Glesca had to struggle to beat runner-up Quibraye in 1’19’4 per kilometre, with Romero and Winged Shoe Shot also making it to the final.
E/F: The first semi-final went to Quatre Quarts in a time of 1’19’2 per kilometre, ahead of fellow-qualifiers Etter Kall, Roi des Montiers and Severo, whilst Spi de Mars made them two wins in a row after its success in the heats, by winning a close second semi-final ahead of Rush Gede, Ragoto and Son Desir in 1’18’8 per kilometre.
G: In this class the three qualifiers were spread over three weeks. First, Oscar d’Argent just about beat Quelle Turque in a time of 1’20’6 per kilometre, with Present d’Amour also making it to the final. Then it was the turn of Onyx de Signes to win a close race beating fellow qualifiers Ovni de Cece and Papillon des Bois in 1’20’3 per kilometre and the last semi-final went to Perak in 1’20’4 per kilometre ahead of Lionel and Spencer.
H: Pazon comfortably won the first Class H semi-final in a time of 1’20’9 per kilometre ahead of qualifiers Oricius, Orle and Qualamont, with 17 year old Kalex winning a close second semi-final ahead of Oucleo, Prince Igor and Orly France in 1’21’1 per kilometre.
(iii) The Finals
The finals were all held on the 22nd July and had some attractive prize-money even
more considering that this was 20 years ago, with the winners being awarded Lm900 – Euro2,096 (A1), Lm650 – Euro1,514 (each of the A/B and C/D finals), Lm450 – Euro1,048 (G) and Lm300 – Euro699 (H).
The main final, the class A1, was not very eventful because 10 year old Ring Leader, one of the pre-race favourites, which would finish up winning no less than 20 races in its career in Malta, driven by Raymond Clifton, took an early lead as it used to enjoy doing at the time, and maintained it till the end, to win comfortably ahead of Sage des Castelets, Sergio Corleone and Wichy Vat in a time of 1’17’5 per kilometre.
The A/B final was a close affair, with the win finally going to Ragnar Viking, ahead of Saik, Rapide de Mortree and Sanit, in 1’18’8 per kilometre.
Then Qoppa registered the second best time of these finals, 1’17’9 per kilometre to win the C/D final ahead of First Serve, My Glesca and Clarito, whilst Rush Gede had a comfortable win in the E/F final in front of Severo, Roi des Montiers and Etter Kall in 1’18’8 per kilometre.
16 year old Lionel had a similarly comfortable win in the class G final in 1’20’9 per kilometre, ahead of Spencer, Present d’Amour and Onyx de Signes, whilst the class H final had a closer finish with Oricius beating another veteran, Kalex, in 1’20’8 per kilometre, ahead of Orly France and Pazon.
The trophies and the prize-money were presented by Dr Paul Debattista, General Manager, and Mr Wilfred Sultana, Marketing Manager, of the Lowenbrau company.
Undoubtedly names which bring a lot of memories and nostalgia. Since then, the quality of our horses and the times they register have improved and floodlights have enabled races to be held at a later more comfortable time, but the spectacle and excitement are the same. May we have more great racing in the remaining part of this year’s Summer championships with bumper attendances similar to those of 20 years ago.
In conclusion I wish to wholeheartedly thank Mr Nicholas Farrugia who once again allowed me to access some of his wealth of historical information in compiling this article.
We wish you another two great meetings in the coming week.
