Michael Sultana who currently leads the Malta Racing Club (MRC)’s flat racing jockeys standings has been chosen by the MRC to represent Malta in the final leg of the MHRU jockeys championship 2010 which will be held in Siracusa, Sicily on Wednesday 8th December.

In the previous legs, Malta was represented by jockeys Eric Zammit who finished fourth in Serbia and first in Tunisia, Oliver Briffa who finished sixth in Morocco and Michael Sultana who finished third in Malta. The races which were due to be held in Croatia and Algeria had to be cancelled.

Malta is competing in this championship against a number of other, bigger countries hailing from the Mediterranean region.

Before leaving to Siracusa, Club chairman Dr Matthew Brincat said “we are currently in joint first place in the standings, together with Morocco, and this notwithstanding that in the race held in Cagnes Sur Mer, France, the horse that was being partnered by the Maltese jockey (the same Michael Sultana) was withdrawn, thus resulting in a big disappointment and loss of precious points for Malta”. He continued “irrespective of the outcome of the final race, the results achieved so far are really praiseworthy, particularly when one considers that flat racing in Malta is still a developing discipline with a restricted, but growing, number of horses and jockeys”.

Together with the positive results achieved overseas by some of the jockeys, this demonstrates that despite their relatively small number, our jockeys are of international level and their quality is not inferior to that of their foreign competitors.

Each of our jockeys has given his full commitment towards the achievement of the best possible result for the national colours. Our current classification is the fruit of a collective effort by all our representatives. It also provides an encouraging message to Maltese flat racing enthusiasts and promoters of this discipline confirming the strides forward made.

Naturally, if Malta manages to win this championship with a great performance in Sicily, this would mean an incredible double for Maltese horse-racing in the international competitions organised by the MHRU in 2010, after the success achieved by the Maltese trot drivers in their championship earlier this year.

We wish Michael and the Malta team the best of luck. We are convinced that he has spared no effort to prepare himself in the best manner for this appointment. Let’s give further proof of the quality of our sports persons, notwithstanding our size and resource limitations, but especially, may we be excellent ambassadors of the Maltese horse-racing community and always set an example of sportsmanship, whatever the final result may be.