Seven runners set off for the start of the 1200m Madigan Maiden Plate at Borrowdale Park on December 17, but only four took part in the race.

One bolted, another burst through the pen, then there was a false start, so forth and so on…and finally the remainder got away and finished.

The race was won by the Amy Bronkhorst trained Countess Varovski (Ryan Munger), followed by Field of Sound (Randall Simons), Pirate Hunter (Francois Herholdt) and Bugatti Blue (Sherman Brown). Only a length separated the first three horses and Pirate Hunter and Bugatti Blue were having their first start.

Countess Varovski is owned by Messrs S.W. Shutt, K. Hatendi, Duncan Jones, H.D. Parbhoo and D.C. Samuels. The four-year-old Var (USA) filly was bred by Patricia Devine Investments.

Congratulations to the winning connections.

That’s it for Borrowdale Park racing in 2017. Have A Happy New Year, drive carefully (preferably not at all), and better luck with all our starts in 2018.

Photograph: Zimbabwe Equine News.