Friday 20th September 2013
35th horse-racing meeting 2013 – 20th September

by Magnat


After a first meeting dedicated to short distance races, the second phase of the racing season continues on Friday with another bumper programme consisting of 11 trot races on the longer 2,640m distance.  This meeting starts at 6.30pm.


Once again, the key race will naturally be that reserved for Premier class trotters (the 8th on the card) featuring 15 top class participants, some of which have raced last week such as Label Chouan and Olympien Major which had positive performances – 3rd and 5th respectively in under 1’16, with Ofackevo, Orion du Vaumicel, Nasko Pride and Noble d’Ete all seeking a better result.


Some of the other horses are returning after the summer break including Vanmaker Limburgia (3rd in the Summer championship final), Sultan November (3rd in the Sette Giugno Cup final), True Q and Skars Hanna, whilst Bonus Kall, Of Course Ramble, Nagano Phedo and Nuage de Bourgogne should race for the first time after a longer period of absence.


The two Gold class races having full fields of 16 horses each are also extremely interesting.  The first includes no less than four horses which have placed last week, showing that they are already gradually entering into form, i.e. Pan des Couperies, Pitchpin des Bois, Baron G.L. and Energy Launcher, with most of the others returning after the summer break and Nacarat Campbell and Osiris des Kids due to make a come back after an absence of nearly a year or more.


The second is reserved for horses having a number of handicap points which bring them closer to the Premier class and even here we find some horses having already made a positive start to the second phase, such as Midnight Passion (winner of its two races in Malta), Lover Boy Index (runner-up last week), Jerry Eme and Oscar Indien, both coming from good places. 


Most of the others are starting their second phase, including horses such as Prix d’Enghien runner-up Phenix de la Roque, Orage du Pont which won three times this year and many other extremely valid horses.


Then we find no less than five extremely balanced Silver class races.  These feature among others:


(i) two nine year old newcomers, i.e. Swede Livi Champion and French Quarborandum,


(ii) various horses which have had a positive return last week, such as Law Suit,  Mealington and Quio des Nappes (all winners), Insomnia Grif, Mr Snowman, Milano du Gite, Quipson and Touch The Diamond, coming from good places,


(iii) horses having had a very good first phase of the season such as Pittacos (five wins), Quaroldo (four wins, including the Summer championship Silver A class final), Quindici (four wins), Octobre En Fete (three wins) Quozak Prior (winner of the Prix de Cabourg) and various others,


(iv) many horses making their return after the summer or after a longer lay-off and others seeking an improvement in their form.


The remaining races are two for the Bronze class and another for Copper class horses.  


Although on a different distance, this week’s programme continues last week’s theme, i.e. horses trying to get into the racing routine after a rather long stop.  Last week’s races already provided some decently good times, particularly the 1’15’5 in the Premier class (Nicos de Peneme) and the 1’15’7 registered by Markus Klipp in the Silver class.  However now that the championships will soon start, those horses hoping to be protagonists have no time to lose in getting to their best form.


Last Meeting


The first meeting of the second phase of the season was dedicated to short distance races, with trotters competing on 2,140m and thoroughbreds on the sprint 1,250m distance.


Nicos de Peneme went in front after just 500m from the start of the Premier class race, followed for most of the distance by Mark de Chamant and Orcas Bac.  The situation remained the same until the final straight when Nicos de Peneme had to withstand a strong challenge from Orcas Bac, but the former was the faster of the two and claimed its second seasonal win in the meeting’s best time of 1’15’5 per kilometre.  Label Chouan finished third followed by Mark de Chamant.


The first Gold class race saw a good start for horses such as Baron G.L., Midnight Passion and newcomer Pan des Coupieres among others.  However after about 900m it was newcomer Quel Gibus which went in front followed by Pan des Couperies.


The latter took the lead at the start of the final straight but at the same time Midnight Passion came strongly to challenge it head-to-head throughout the straight.  Midnight Passion took the lead around 80m from the end to take its second win from as many races in Malta in a time of 1’16’3 per kilometre, a length ahead of Pan des Couperies, followed by Baron G.L. and Energy Launcher.


Why Not As took an early lead in the second Gold class race followed by Ygor of Pass.  These two continued to dominate the race with the latter managing to go in front with around 600m to go.  Lover Boy Index advanced to attack Ygor of Pass in the last 400m, but despite the former’s courageous attempt, Ygor of Pass proved to be stronger, claiming its first seasonal win less than a length ahead of Lover Boy Index, followed by Jerry Eme and Oscar Indien.  The race time was 1’16’6 per kilometre.


The first Silver class race saw two horses, Pitchpin des Bois followed by Markus Klipp, detaching themselves from the rest of the field in the backstraight, with the race ultimately being decided between them.  Markus Klipp managed to take the lead around 150m from the post to claim its first win in Malta in a very good time of 1’15’7 per kilometre, a length ahead of Pitchpin des Bois, followed by Matador Knick and Touch The Diamond.


In the second Silver class race, newcomer Quio des Nappes which had come in as a reserve, took the lead around 1,200m from  the end, a lead which it maintained till the end, actually accelerating further in the last half lap, to crown a victorious debut in a time of 1’17’3 per kilometre, a length ahead of Insomnia Grif, with Mr Snowman and Quipson following in that order.


In the last Silver class race, Mealington took an early lead and paced the race at its rythm.  The situation remained the same until the backstraight when Tough East started its attack on the race leader.  These two horses entered the final straight practically together and challenged each other until the end, with Mealington ultimately having the better of Tough East by about a length (followed by Milano du Gite and Quaid Tejy) to obtain its first seasonal win in 1’16’1 per kilometre.


Newcomer Good As Gold was the fastest out of the starting gates in the Class A flat race, followed as a shadow by the other newcomer Dasho.  700m from the end Dasho made its decisive move, by attacking the race leader and comfortably taking the lead, which it continued increasing till the end to dominate this race winning by around eight lengths from the same Good As Gold and Henderlik in that order, in the seasonal best time of 1’13’20 on the 1,250m distance.


Election for owners’ and drivers’ representatives on the MRC Council


The election for the owners’ and drivers’ representatives on the Malta Racing Club Council was held last Saturday and Sunday.


The elected candidates were Messrs Kevin Debono, Anthony Mallia and Darren Mizzi, to whom we wish a lot of fruitful work on the Council.


We also thank the other candidates, i.e. Messrs George Fenech, Jason Vassallo, Ivan Carabott, Mario Baldacchino and Brian Zammit, for generously standing for this election in an endeavour to be of service to the other owners and drivers.  We hope that they will still give their contribution to the Malta Racing Club for the good of owners and drivers in some suitable manner.  


Congratulations to Charles Degiorgio


We also congratulate our compatriot Charles Degiorgio who works as a trainer and driver in Sweden for the splendid win he registered on the 10th September at Jagersro racecourse.  He was driving 8 year old gelding P.A. Surprise in an autostart race reserved for trotters which have not exceeded SEK710,000 in winnings on the 2,640m distance, which race carried a total prize-money of SEK76,000.  The race time was 1’15’1 per kilometre.


Demis Zammit representing Malta in Hungarian National Gallop


For the first time, the Malta Racing Club has been requested to send a jockey to compete in the Nemzet Vagta, i.e. the Hungarian National Gallop, an equestrian festival which is held annually (since 2008) in Heroes Square, Budapest and which is one of the largest tourist attractions of that city. 


This year’s edition is scheduled for this weekend - the 20th to 22nd September.


Demis Zammit, who currently heads the Maltese jockeys classification has been chosen to represent Malta in this event.  He will be accompanied  by Dr Matthew Brincat, Chairman of the Malta Racing Club.


Demis will be participating in this International Event on Sunday, but he will be involved in preparations and activities even on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  On Sunday morning he will get the chance to try the track which is set up just for the occasion around Heroes Square, with the race being held later on that day.


We take this opportunity to wholeheartedly thank Mr Carlo Micallef, Group Head Segment Marketing of the Malta Tourism Authority and Mr Manuel Briffa, Corinthia Hotels’ Director of Public Relations, without whose help Malta’s participation at this prestigious event would not have been possible.  Indeed, the Maltese Tourism Authority and Corinthia Hotels are the sponsors of such participation.


We wish Demis the best of luck and a great experience in Hungary.


The Summer break


Now the racing season is gradually gaining momentum and this momentum will increase further with the start of the Autumn championship.


However as Summer prepares to leave us even as a season precisely at the end of this week, I could not but reflect on those seven weeks of break from racing that we have here in Malta in the middle of Summer.


There are some who believe that such a break is not necessary in Malta and that the season can continue normally as happens in many foreign countries.  Naturally all of us have different opinions; personally I believe that such a stop is worthwhile.


Differently from countries which are bigger than ours and which have the possibility of using a variety of race tracks for their races, for us the Marsa racetrack is not just the national racetrack but effectively also the only track where the Malta Racing Club organises all its races and it also hosts a lot of horse training too.


So it does need some rest and maintenance from time to time and if the races do not stop it is difficult to give it some proper maintenance.


The summer heat does not help either.  In August and the beginning of September even the nights are hot and many times the heat is accompanied by a southernly wind that renders all exercise an incredible feat, especially if to the racing one also adds the training necessary to achieve good performances.


I believe in this break also because it facilitates a period of rest for many horses.  We Maltese and Gozitans really love our horses but sometimes the competitive element is so strong that perhaps not everyone always manages to resist the temptation of stopping one’s horses for a period of deserved rest or also for some necessary maintenance where necessary.


And notwithstanding the break from races not all horses stop racing during summer.  Indeed various horses race in road races during these months.


Personally, my participation in athletics has taught me the great importance of rest and cure whenever necessary so that one can give one’s best in races.  Thus this break gives the opportunity to whoever wishes to provide this rest and cure without having to skip some championship.


But I have to admit that when the season is at a stop I really crave races and horses.  I finish up following more the sport overseas and there are many attractive races during that time.


But my main interest remains in Malta.  I finished up in a very interesting discussion in a pet shop on a Saturday morning with some friends of mine who are horse-racing enthusiasts, on horses of the past, new horses imported during summer and their physical condition, and a hundred other horse-related things.  Oops I did not realise how the time flew!


I went down to the track at the end of August and met a few friends whom I had last seen at the last race meeting of July.  Just a month has passed and it seems that we have not met in a year. 


Early in the morning as I am heading out to work I always await a racehorse coming down at a relaxed pace as it always does at that time.  In the silence of the morning I hear it coming and I enjoy saying hello to its owner on the sulky;  I am sure that both the owner and the horse look forward to that outing in the quiet of the Maltese countryside.


And on a Sunday morning in mid-summer as I was running another horse walking at a leisurely pace caught up with me (you can imagine how slow my pace was!) and I asked the owner on the sulky for the horse’s name.


I continued running and the horse continued walking at the same pace whilst I somehow continued speaking with the owner whilst at the same time trying to maintain enough breath to continue running and keep up with them.  It was not at all easy and after nearly a kilometre I left them to continue their walk in peace and I continued my run.


Who knows what any onlooker would have thought on seeing a man running and panting while at the same time speaking to another man on the sulky of a beautiful Premier class horse!  But I was happy to have seen another horse from close by and shared some thoughts on our favourite sport even in the middle of summer and whilst running.


I am sure that many horse racing enthusiasts have different stories but on the same theme!


And truly, sometimes I think that that this Summer break here in Malta also has the advantage of making us appreciate more the beauty of our races.  Because we truly can’t wait until the season continues!


 


We wish you another great meeting on Friday.