Friday 29th October 2010
50th horse-racing meeting

by Magnat

Another race-meeting will be held next Sunday 31st October at the Marsa race track with the first race being scheduled for 1.30pm. The race card consists of 8 trotting races and one flat race.

All trotting races will be on the 2,640m distance, with all trot classes being in action; two races are reserved for the Gold class and three for the Bronze class.

Although no championship races are scheduled for this meeting, nonetheless it includes various points of interest, with balanced races, some new horses making their debut and a number of races for Premier and Gold Class horses. These races also constitute good preparation for those horses which will compete in forthcoming championships over the 2,640m distance.

The flat race is expected to be contested by eight Class A horses on a 1,750m distance. Among the best recent performers we have Mr Roxy Music and No Telling, with Miss Chevalier (IR) (scratched last week) being expected to make its debut next Sunday.

The Premier class race includes some of Malta’s top horses and the 16-trotter field is expected to feature horses such as Lovely Mab, Marini du Mont, Liosco Atout, Deli du Ling, Niro and others. It promises to be a keenly contested race.

The sixth race is reserved for Gold class horses having the highest points. Nearly all the horses would be promoted to the Premier class with a win and in some cases even with a good placing. It includes various horses which were racing in the Premier class until recently, such as Lucky Fan, Race Ball, Socrates etc.

Six new horses are scheduled to make their debut, i.e. Okapi d’Avril (FR) in the Bronze class, Bete Saknussen (FI) and Livi Cantona (SE) in the Silver class, Major de la Vronde (FR) and Noble d’Urzy (FR) in the Gold class and Mont Cenis Honey (FR) in the Premier class. Interestingly the latter horse had winnings in France of Euro339,520 (around double the minimum for admission to the Premier Class), with 15 wins and a best time of 1’12’5 per kilometre.

In last week’s races centre-stage was occupied by the two Dragonara Cup Semi-Finals, being keenly contested races won by Kakisis with a time of 1’15’7 per kilometre, this season’s best time on the 2,640m distance, and Mica Bonero at its second race in Malta. The other qualifiers were Think Yatzee, Kain Poifond, Land Havaroche, My Red Force, Play on Me, Label Pont Vautier, Lou Petiot and Lipouz Lesmelchen. The final will be held on Sunday 7th November, whilst the non-qualifiers will compete in the Consolation Final on Friday 5th November.

The heats of the Condition races for the Copper, Bronze, Silver and Gold classes also continued and now all finalists are known. The finals will be run on the 5th and 7th November.

Once again, we had various fiercely contested race finishes and some horses confirmed their current top form by registering successive wins. These included the above-mentioned Kakisis and Larkay d’Echal (Copper) at their third consecutive win, Mimile du Hamet (Gold) at its third win from the last four races, Major Luchois (Gold) and Emil Berbro (Silver) at their second win from the last three races.
Well done also to Landi Breton (Gold) which registered a very good time of 1’17’6 per kilometre on the long 3,140m distance and to promising young driver Sebastian Schembri who won the Young Drivers’ Race on Friday when partnering veteran 16-year old Mackbrain.

In conclusion, a word about websites describing the experience of keeping horses in Malta and those featuring horse-racing and racehorses in Malta. They make really enjoyable reading.

Websites providing information on horse-keeping portray a colourful picture of the satisfaction and challenges associated with the care of racehorses and demonstrate the dedication and competence existing in this sector in Malta. Ultimately one of the biggest attractions of this sport lies in the joy of horse-keeping and stable and farm life.

The other websites provide publicity for the Maltese horse-racing scene, giving information about the horses and their local performances, photos and news. Such websites also highlight the efforts taking place in Malta to increase professionalism in the organisation of this sport.

Well done to those individuals who constantly and competently maintain such websites; may more people be interested in putting up similar websites in future.

Best wishes for another exciting meeting next Sunday.