Nemzeti Vagta in Budapest is an equestrian festival packed with culture, fun and excitement that is held annually in Heroes’ Square which is one of the largest touristic attractions of the city. First held in 2008, this year’s appointment is for next weekend between the 20th and 22nd September. 

For the first time, the Malta Racing Club was asked to send a flat racing jockey to participate in this unique event and thus the choice fell upon Demis Zammit who is currently occupying first place in the general classification for local jockeys. He will be accompanied by the Chairman of the Malta Racing Club Dr Matthew Brincat. This participation would not have been possible without the intervention and help of Mr Carlo Micallef who is the Group Head Segment Marketing of the Malta Tourism Authority as well as Mr Manuel Briffa Director of Public Relations for the Corinthia Hotels. In fact the Malta Tourism Authority as well as Corinthia Hotels are sponsoring the Maltese participation in this event. 

Demis Zammit will be participating in this International Event on Sunday but preparations for him start on Thursday afternoon with a press conference and afterwards horse testing. As this is not a normal race, Friday morning there will be training for the competitors whilst on Saturday morning he will be participating in the professional programmes at the National Gallop and in the evening he will attend a technical meeting in order to learn the rules of the competition. On Sunday morning he will get the chance to try the track which is one set up just for the occassion around Heroes’ Square. 

During the days of the event, spectators and visitors will be able to sample a little of the Hungarian culture as well as the culture of the participating countries. The Malta Tourism Authority is going to have a tent set up for the occassion where one can find information about our island as well as see a sample of local products. The participating countries in this event are Hungary and Malta as well as Serbia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Qatar, UAE and Kazakhstan. Each jockey will be accompanied by a person wearing his country’s national costume.

We would like to wish Demis Zammit the best of luck.

Lorraine Cunningham

Public Relations & Media Officer

Malta Racing Club

MRC/09/13