by Magnat

Two race meetings will be held at the Marsa racetrack over the coming week; the first on Sunday (4th December) and the other on Thursday (8th December – public holiday), both starting at 1.30pm and comprising eight trot races each.   

The highlight of next Sunday’s meeting is the Premier class race on 2,140m with a full field of sixteen registered trotters.  Many of these have just participated in the heats from the SECF championships for French trotters or the President’s Cup, plus some relative newcomers to Malta.  It includes among others last year’s President’s Cup winner Lucas Ness, six time seasonal winner Energy Launcher, last week’s Gold class race winner Anguz R.C. and many other equally valid horses.

The fifteen horses registered for the Gold class race also include various well-known horses.  Some of them are coming from recent wins, such as Master Lupin and Peasant Gallant, whilst a good number such as Natif de l’Hommee, Dream Leader, Never Better and others have raced in the Premier class in recent times.

Two horses, i.e. Perceval du Gault (FR) and Petit Veinard (FR), are registered to make their debut in the Silver class.

The 8th December meeting is then dedicated exclusively to the semi-finals from the SECF championships reserved for French trotters.  Two semi-finals will be held from the championships for each of the Premier, Gold, Silver and Bronze classes, with five trotters from each race qualifying for the final.

In the Prix de Vincennes (Premier class), we have eight horses registered in the first semi-final and nine in the second, with horse ages varying between eight and fourteen years.  All participants had won more than Euro170,000 in France and include past Tazza l-Kbira, Prix de Vincennes and Summer Championship winners as well as a good number of relative newcomers having had substantial winnings in France prior to being imported into Malta.

The first Prix d’Enghien (Gold class) semi-final sees ten registered trotters, with nine in the second.  Their ages vary between nine and fifteen years and with nearly all of them having winnings exceeding Euro120,000 in France.  They include many popular horses such as eight time seasonal winner Magnifique Sablais, Autumn Championship Gold class winner Naja In Blue, June 2011 Prix de Cabourg winner Lys des Etroits, various horses which used to race in the Premier class and a number of promising relative newcomers.

Ultimately there is nothing like these knock-out races to increase excitement at the racecourse, in the knowledge that the smallest shortcoming could cost a place in the final ...

Last meetings 
The main attractions of the last meetings were undoubtedly the four President’s Cup semi-finals on a 2,640m distance which were held in glorious autumn weather last Sunday.  These resulted in twelve finalists (nine Swedish and three French) which are scheduled to compete in the final being held on Republic Day (13th December). 

The first semi-final saw True Q leading for most of the way although it was regularly challenged by newcomer Harmonic Silvio.  The former held on to take its first win in Malta by a good margin from the same Harmonic Silvio and favourite Livi Cantona which also made it to the final.

The second semi-final saw a brilliant attack on the outside lanes in the final few hundred metres by Nec Carmolo leading it to win by a wide margin from fellow-qualifiers Arnie Sensation and Belafonte.  This was Nec Carmolo’s first win in Malta and it registered the weekend’s best time of 1’16’0 per kilometre.

Flash Coger also enjoyed the lead for most of the third semi-final, followed mainly by Malin Roro.  Here the main action was reserved for the final straight when the latter attacked Flash Coger which however kept a good pace to take its second seasonal win by half a length from the same Malin Roro and Le Coup de Foudre which finished strongly to take the other berth in the final.

An increase in speed at around the start of the last lap saw newcomer Utah Hornline take the lead in the last semi-final holding on to its first place until the end.  Skip Dimanche and Lipouz Lesmelchen finished immediately behind the winner to become the last President’s Cup finalists. 

Friday’s meeting also included three SECF Prix de Caen (Copper class) semi-finals.  These resulted in the second seasonal win for Kaolin de Bannes and Koko Loco and in the first win in Malta for Qualou d’Axel.  Jeo de Touvois, Newmarket Boy, Jocker du Cornica, Koehchel Baz, Ideal de Suce and New Hope also made it to the final which will be held on the 18th December.

Last Sunday, we also had an interesting Local Councils’ race involving amateur trotters being driven by well-known drivers and carrying local council mayors in jog carts.  This race attracted a lot of attention and was followed also by Parliamentary Secretaries Clyde Puli and Chris Said.  The win went to I.P. Broadway, driven by Charles Camilleri and carrying Attard mayor Stefan Cordina. 

Best wishes
Our last word today is one of best wishes.  These go to current champion driver Noel Baldacchino who will represent Malta in the Prix des Rencontres Internationales du Trotteur Francais being held on Saturday 3rd December in the mythical racecourse of Vincennes, in Paris.  This is a prestigious international race organised by the SECF (the French trot association) pitting against each other drivers representing 14 different countries, driving French trotters over a 2,100m distance.

Once again, this year, it will feature various well-known drivers, including the French Eric Raffin (driver among others of Rapide Lebel, winner of the European Grand Circuit), Randy Waples (driver among others of Canadian Breeders’ Crown winner San Pail) representing Canada, last year’s winner of this race Gerard Vergaerde of Belgium, with the remainder being among the best drivers in their respective countries.

No doubt, this is competition of the highest calibre for Noel, from drivers representing countries with long years of tradition, great horse-racing facilities and strong resources invested in this sport. 

However, Noel is an experienced driver who has won the Maltese drivers’ championship on various occasions and the wealth of local and international experiences to which he has been exposed is excellent preparation for this event.

Our best wishes also go to jockey Sarah Borg, who will represent our country in the last event from the jockeys’ Mediterranean Horse Racing Union Championship, being held on the 8th December at the beautiful Ippodromo del Mediterraneo in Siracusa. Even she will be facing tough competition from jockeys hailing from larger and more resourceful countries in this sector. 

But it is a real pleasure to see a young, promising jockey who is having a very good season (currently in 4th place of the local jockeys’ championship) representing Malta and obtaining more valuable experience on the international stage.  It is good that we invest in our up-and-coming generation of jockeys, our best hope for a bright future in thoroughbred racing in Malta. 

As usual when we Maltese are competing in international sports events, the challenges that our drivers and jockeys face appear similar to the David vs Goliath match-up.  However our drivers and jockeys have made us proud on various occasions in the past and their talent and professionalism is renowned even overseas, belying our country’s limited size and resources.  Naturally, much will also depend on the luck of the horse drawn, something which often does not favour us.

In any case however, we have full confidence in Noel’s and Sarah’s abilities.  We are convinced that they will not be intimidated by the competition and will give their all to provide yet another demonstration of our drivers’ and jockeys’ talents even in the international horse-racing scene.

We wish you all two exciting meetings this coming week.