by Magnat

The 2013 season ends next Sunday with the final meeting comprising a nine race all-trot card starting at 1.30pm.

Even this final meeting is not lacking in attractive features:

(i) The Variable Odds Betting (VOB) Cup Grand Final on the rather long 2,640m distance;

(ii) Eight Owner races for all classes, including a Premier class race, all on the shorter 2,140m distance;

(iii) Various interesting newcomers, including some in the Premier class.

However, naturally the key attraction is the season’s last final, the VOB Cup Grand Final for for Premier class horses which finished in the top places in this month’s President’s Cup and Prix de Vincennes finals.

Aged between 7 and 12 years, participants originate in France, Italy and Sweden.  Winners of 21 races and having placed another 40 times between them, the full list of 11 geldings is as follows:

1. Orgueil de Nganda, French 11 year old, with overseas winnings of Euro513,090 and a best time of 1’12’1 per kilometre.  It has one place from its five races in Malta with a best time of 1’15’2 per kilometre on 2,640m.

2. Ohime Mag, French 11 year old, with overseas winnings of Euro248,250 and a best time of 1’12’8 per kilometre.  It has four wins (including this month’s SECF Prix de Vincennes final) and four places from its 11 races in Malta with a best time of 1’13’5 per kilometre on 2,140m (1’14’8 on 2,640m).

3.  Poppes Fighter, Swedish 12 year old, with overseas winnings of SEK973,600 and a best time of 1’12’8 per kilometre.  It has a win and five places from its 16 races in Malta, with a best time of 1’14’8 per kilometre on 2,640m.

4. Okilaibo, French 11 year old, with overseas winnings of Euro237,460 and a best time of 1’14’0 per kilometre.  It has notched five wins (including this June’s Prix de Vincennes and VOB Cup finals) and 8 places in its 13 races in Malta, with its absolute best time being registered here in Malta of 1’13’7 per kilometre on 2,140m (1’14’6 per kilometre on 2,640m).

5.  The Bad Rock, Swedish 10 year old, with overseas winnings of SEK1,228,450 and a best time of 1’13’5 per kilometre.  It won twice and placed another time in its five races in Malta, with a best time of 1’14’5 per kilometre on 2,640m.

6. Gently di Poggio, Italian 10 year old, with overseas winnings of Euro156,263 and a best time of 1’12’4 per kilometre.  It has a win (this month’s President’s Cup final) and a place from its three outings in Malta and a best time of 1’14’4 per kilometre on 2,640m (the best time on this distance in Malta since June 2008).

7.  Quelino d’Amour, French 9 year old, with overseas winnings of Euro195,162 and a best time of 1’12’5 per kilometre. It has three places from its five races in Malta with a best time of 1’15’2 per kilometre on 2,640m.

8.  Cloria Victis, Swedish 9 year old, with overseas winnings of SEK1,336,703 and a best time of 1’12’4 per kilometre.  It has placed in all its three races in Malta so far, with a best time of 1’14’6 per kilometre on 2,640m.

9.  Ourasi Diams, French 11 year old, with overseas winnings of Euro229,680 and a best time of 1’14’6 per kilometre.  This horse placed seven times out of its 13 races in Malta, registering its best time of 1’15’2 per kilometre three times, twice on 2,140m and another time on 2,640m.

10.  Oltedo de Rieux, French 11 year old, with overseas winnings of Euro183,230 and a best time of 1’13’5 per kilometre.  It won twice and placed another six times from its 13 races in Malta, with a best time of 1’15’1 per kilometre on 2,640m.

11. Midnight Passion, Swedish 7 year old, with overseas winnings of SEK447,250 and a best time of 1’13’4 per kilometre.  It notched six wins and a place in its 9 races in Malta with a best time of 1’14’5 per kilometre on 2,140m (1’14’6 per kilometre on 2,640m).

It is impressive that no less than eight of these horses have made their best (or joint best) time in Malta on the 2,640m distance and that all these horses have a best time on this distance locally standing at 1’15’2 per kilometre or better.

No doubt a clash of titans awaits us for this last honour of the season!

The total prize-money for this final amounts to Euro2,075, with the winner receiving Euro1,200.

Then we have 8 races in which the participating trotters will be driven by their owners.  From among these, the main race is that for the Premier class with a field of 11 participants, which include among others Summer championship Premier class winner Shakira Trot and past championship winners Arnie Sensation, Wiss Night Hawk and Count of Life, with the first two also being finalists in the President’s Cup final a couple of weeks ago.

This race also includes no less than four newcomers, i.e. Belgian ten year old Vitas, six year old Dane Playboy C.H.,  French eleven year old Over Oaks and Swedish eight year old P.A. Surprise.

The meeting also includes an interesting Gold class race with some participants having recently competed in the Premier class, including Versace Boko, Prince de la Butte, Happiness Photo and Olympien Major, whilst horses such as Energy Launcher, Quipson, Orage du Pont, Malewe and Rapide du Matin are coming from good wins or places in the last month or so.  Swedish newcomer Means Nothing is also registered as a reserve in this race with the possibility of making its debut.

The remaining races are three for the Silver class, two for the Bronze class and a Copper class race with German mare Iliana being due to debut in the latter race.

And thus we have arrived at the end of another season!  One that started slowly and which was to some extent impacted by bad weather but which has ultimately turned out into another successful season comprising some 53 meetings.  However before we close off the season we look forward to another exciting meeting and the crowning of the last championship winner for this year!

Last Meeting

The last race meeting was held in the context of the Equestrian Festival, a most successful event which saw a mix of different equestrian activities.  We had seven racing finals, six for trotters and one for thoroughbreds.

One of the key attractions of this programme was the historic Coronation Cup flat racing final for class A horses, the key flat racing honour for the sprint 1,250m distance.

Among the six participants it was Gold As Good which took an early lead but just after the half way mark, Darielli caught up with it and went in front.  However at the same time Kimberley Downs was advancing one position after another two-wide and 400m from the end it came in line with the race leaders and then it dominated the final straight sprinting to the seasonal best time on the distance of 1’12’97 to add this honour to the Mediterranean Derby and the Johnnie Walker Cup thus dominating the flat racing main honours on the short, middle and long distances.

Mounted by Michael Sultana, this was also the fifth consecutive and sixth seasonal win for Kimberley Downs which finished more than two lengths ahead of Timolin, followed by Gold As Good.

The other six finals were all reserved for trotters and were contested on the sprint 1,640m distance.

Totti T. Dream shot immediately into the lead in the most important final, that for the Premier class, followed for a long part of the way by Madam di Poggio.  The former maintained the lead until the last half lap when Mark Desira’s 10 year old Swede Absolut Spender went three wide to come head to head with the race leader 400m from the end.

Soon afterwards, Absolut Spender took the lead, entered the final straight in front and then sprinted marvellously until the end to register its fifth seasonal win and claim this final in a brilliant time of 1’13’2 per kilometre, a split second away from the joint national record on this distance.  Vejby Boom finished a length behind, followed by Madam di Poggio and Oran in that order. 

In the Gold class final, Gilbert Farrugia’s Charm Hammering was in dominating form as it led practically from start to finish having a length’s lead for most of the way and then accelerating further in the last 500m to distance itself further from the rest of the field for some time. 

The final straight saw Charm Hammering being attacked in a determined manner by Phenix de la Roque but the former was strong enough to resist this challenge and win the Equestrian Festival Gold class final,  notching its second consecutive and fifth seasonal win as well as its all-time personal best time of 1’13’2 per kilometre, identical to that registered in the Premier class final. Phenix de la Roque finished a length behind the winner, followed by Power Night Star and Pan des Couperies. 

In the Silver A final, Side Spin went in front at the beginning of the race soon followed by Damita.  The front positions remained unchanged as the horses entered the final straight, which resulted in an exciting challenge between these two horses with Side Spin holding on to reach the finishing post first. 

However, the stewards disqualified Side Spin for hooking, with the win thus being awarded to Marco Debono’s Damita (its second win from its two races in Malta so far), comfortably ahead of Pissaro, Norman d’Avril and Notice As, in another good time of 1’14’0 per kilometre.

Pile Ou Face took the lead after the first couple of hundred metres of the Silver B final, initially challenged by various horses, including Wonderofyou and Mr Snowman.  Still, Pile Ou Face maintained the lead well into the final straight and although being attacked strongly by Megiddo, it appeared heading for the win.

However it changed gait a few meters from the finishing post so that Megiddo, driven by Charles Camilleri ended the race first, to record its second consecutive and seasonal win, triumphing in this final by a couple of lengths from Mr Snowman, followed by Alf Eme and Novak in that order, in a time of 1’14’3 per kilometre.

In the first two finals of the day, we first saw Tony Tanti’s Buckens Stjarna registering its third seasonal win and capturing the Copper class final in its all-time carrier best time of 1’14’8 per kilometre, some six lengths ahead of Kulls Nero (profiting from the disqualification of Icare de Jemma), followed by Friendly Frazer and Monticello.

Then Pema, driven by Charles Degiorgio claimed its second seasonal win in the Bronze class final, more than a length ahead of Lass John, followed by Caddie Drink and Napolitano Sun, in 1’14’5 per kilometre.

During the Equestrian Festival a collection was held in support of L-Istrina, which yielded Euro823.70, whilst the auction of Jean-Michel Bazire’s driver’s jacket yielded Euro1,400 for the same cause.  Many thanks to all those who contributed, for their generosity.

The Equestrian Festival and the above races were followed live from the racecourse by various distinguished personalities, among others the Hon.  Dr Stefan Buontempo, Parliamentary Secretary for Research, Innovation, Youth & Sport who led the presentations of the various prizes to the race winners, His Excellency Mr Rob Luke, British High Commissioner in Malta, who together with the Honourable Parliamentary Secretary made the presentation of the Coronation Cup and Opposition spokesman for Sports the Hon Robert Cutajar.

The VOB Cup Final – 26 years ago

The VOB Cup Final or Grand Final as it is now known, is one of the most traditional honours at the Marsa racecourse with a tradition spanning over the last 32 years.

And in the run-up to such a final I cannot help looking back and feeling somewhat nostalgic when I remember editions from years gone by, editions held when I was still young and when the future always appeared to be bright.

Today I go back in my thoughts to the edition of November – December 1987, 26 years ago, at a time when some of today’s owners, drivers and racing enthusiasts were not even yet born or were at most still children.

As is fitting for such a prestigious honour, this Cup is now contested exclusively by our top flight trotters, those in the Premier class, but this was not always so and in fact the edition held 26 years ago was contested by horses racing in classes A and B (today’s Gold class).  They were nonetheless high quality horses; many of which were extremely popular at the time.  The race distance was similar to that of this edition, i.e. in that case 2,650m autostart.

The four heats held on the 29^th November were uncertain and extremely balanced with the winners emerging only over the final metres of the race, with no participant managing to dominate the rest.

The first heat was won by Milord du Pont, followed by fellow-qualifiers Maxou, Loron de Locheur, Maxime de Launay and Iman Pacha.  Then pre-race favourite Mystere de Bouere lived up to expectations managing to triumph from the in-form Modele, followed into the semi-finals by Kabado, Montesquiou and Milord Tracy.

Much was expected from champion horse Kysko in the third heat but it disappointed on the day, with Neronien running a perfect race to win from another in-form horse, Mik Goulainais, with Lexington, Mimbo and Kysko (which could only finish fifth) also qualifying from this heat.

The last five qualifiers from the fourth and final heat were winner Made In Pirjou, followed by Najac de Tupot, Mineron, Lirzhin Creiomin and Mik des Loges, with absolute favourite Langon disappointing by breaking and being disqualified when challenging for first place around 400 metres from the end.

The two semi-finals were then held a week later, on the 6^th December.  The first race saw the surpise elimination of big favourite Mystere de Bouere with the winner here being Milord Tracy, which was always among the front runners.  Outsider Mimbo was runner-up ahead of Mik Goulainais, with Kysko and Montesquiou also managing to make it to the final in that order.

The second semi-final saw a brilliant display by Lexington which was in the lead throughout the race accompanied by the other favourite Neronien.  These two horses provided some exciting running being head to head for most of the race.  Ultimately Lexington won the day by half a length from the said Neronien, followed by Modele, Mineron and Milord du Pont all making it to the final.

Thus seven 9 year olds, together with an 8 year old, a 10 year old and an 11 year old qualified for the final.  As is the case of the present edition, that was also a Christmassy final, held on the 20^th December 1987. 

In terms of excitement, it was however nothing to write home about, with Modele leading a compact group of participants for most of the 2,650m distance. 

The race leader however started to lose ground in the last lap.    Then as the participants entered the last half lap, Neronien, driven by Emmanuel Fenech, started its attack on the race leader, with the final straight being dominated by an interesting challenge between Neronien and Mineron, but the day belonged to the former which finished a length ahead of the same Mineron, followed by Mik Goulainais, Modele and Kysko in that order.

Thus 8 year old Neronien from the L. Carabott/ G. Zammit stables, then a relatively new French horse (winner of the equivalent of nearly Euro74,000 in France at the time) at the Marsa racetrack and quoted 4-1 by the bookmakers before the race, was the toast of the town on that occasion, a taste of things to come, as this horse had an extremely successful time in Malta during its career of more than five years here.      

In a commendable gesture, Neronien’s prize-money was donated to charity (then Community Chest Fund) by its owners, an act of generosity that we were pleased to see happening even in the Prix de Vincennes a couple of weeks ago by the owners of winner Ohime Mag.

And from those beautiful memories, we now return back to the present and prepare ourselves to finish the year in style with this last honour of the season.  All participants are brilliant horses; whoever will be the winner will thus certainly be deserve it!

We take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy Christmas, an exciting meeting on Sunday and a very healthy and prosperous New Year.  God willing, we will meet again before the first meeting of the 2014 season planned for the 19^th January.