This afternoon a press conference was held at the Malta Racing Club regarding the President's Cup Final to be raced on Sunday 29th October. The press conference was addressed by theGeneral Secretaryof the Malta Racing Club Mr Anthony Demanuele and Mrs Valerie Farrugia from Solidarjeta bl-Isport.
Once again this year the Malta Racing Club has decided to keep its annual appointment with all racegoers with the organisation of the President’s Cup under the Patronage of Her Excellency The President of Malta Marie Louise Coleiro Preca. This is the 17th edition since it was inaugurated in the Summer of 1992 and it is the 2nd best honour for local harness racing.
Participation in this championship was open to all Premier Category horses and four heats were held on Sunday 1st October with a total of 45 horses from which 24 made it to the semi finals. These were held last Sunday when the 12 finalists were made known.
One of the characteristics of this final is that it is the owners themselves or their representatives who choose the starting number of their horse. The order of choice is determined by the placing and timing achieved during the semi finals.
As was done in the past years, it is the children that will bring the 12 finalist drivers to the presentation area on pony carts to receive a participation token by the President of Malta. This year’s guest singer is the young Teo Zammit who will be welcoming Her Excellency with the National Anthem and also sing the winner’s song as soon as the winner is declared.
The finalist horses will parade before the start of the race in blankets given to them by the Malta Racing Club and the parade will be led by last year’s winner Uhal Berven.
The total prize money is €3600 of which the winner gets €2025, a commemorative blanket and the right to keep the President’s Cup Trophy for a year. This prestigious trophy was commissioned by former President of Malta Dr George Abela and is the work of Maltese artist George Muscat. The first four finishers will also get a trophy.
It goes without saying that this Final also has a philantropic aim which is to collect funds for l-Istrina and the Community Chest Fund. On the day volunteers will be going round with collecting tins in order to receive the spectators’ donations whilst we also encourage all winning owners to donate part of their prize money for this good cause.
From the 12 finalists it is only Royal de Vaiges that was also a finalist last year and incidentally all the horses are French.
The finalist horses in the order which was chosen by their owner/driver:
1. SPIRIT DES LOGOS (Julian Farrugia)
2. THOURY LE KING (Clint Vassallo)
3. UNREFUNDABLE (Anton Cassar)
4. RIFIFI NONANTAIS (Noel Baldacchino)
5. TIPOL DE NAPPES (Michael Ghigo)
6. TIP TOP NELLIERE (Michael Ellul)
7. URIDO D’ALBAN (Mario Fenech)
8. SERVICE SECRET (Andrew Farrugia)
9. SAPHIR DU PERCHE (Cliferty Calleja)
10. TEMPS PERDU (Herman McKay)
11. ROYAL DE VAIGES (David Ellul)
12. TURNOVER (Frencu Cassar)
President’s Cup Honour Roll:
Summer 1992 Zito Bob (Tony Tanti)
1992/1993 Sanit (Charles Clifton)
1993/1994 Alto Be (Frencu Cassar)
1994/1995 Major Bill (John Briffa)
1995/1996 Huggie Hanover (Raymond Clifton)
1996/1997 Huggie Hanover (Raymond Clifton)
1997/1998 Captain Trackline (Joseph Scicluna)
1998/1999 Bambin d’Orleans (Philip Giordmaina)
2004 Huit Mars (Michael Seychell)
2010 Lucas Ness (Mario Farrugia)
2011 Livi Cantona (Charles Camilleri)
2012 Mont Cenis Honey (Noel Baldacchino)
2013 Gently di Poggio (Brian Zammit)
2014 Pedro Vici (Johann Axisa)
2015 Vasterbo Paradise (Claudio Refalo)
2016 Uhal Berven (Rodney Gatt)
Lorraine Cunningham
Public Relations & Media Officer
Malta Racing Club
MRC/05/17
