Only Him, a recent arrival at Borrowdale, won the 2021 Zimbabwe Derby on Sunday, beating the more fancied Diesel And Dust in a tight finish.

By Mambo In Seattle (USA) out of a Captain Al mare, Only Him was having his second start in Zimbabwe and Bridget Stidolph’s charge was bred by Moutonshoek. He is owned by the Newbury Racing Syndicate (Pty) Ltd (nominee Mr D E Evans) who had a winner earlier in the afternoon when Prescott scored in the 1800m MR60 Handicap.

Although this wasn’t the Derby result most punters expected, jockey Teaque Gould’s strategic ride provided plenty of excitement. He and Only Him stole a march on the field soon after entering the straight, leaving Magnus Maximus and Diesel And Dust playing catch me if you can – and they couldn’t – although Kevin Derere’s mount, Diesel And Dust, almost made it.  The winning margins were 0.10, 1.00 and 13 lengths.

Congratulations to the winning connections.  The Stidolph yard had a good day winning five of the seven races on Sunday’s card.

Both Only Him and Diesel And Dust are among the 31 horses entered for the 1800m OK Grand Challenge (Gr3) at Borrowdale Park on June 5. It will be interesting to see if the three -year-olds stand their ground.  The top three-year-old filly Dindingwe has also been nominated.

Photograph by Zimbabwe Equine News: The finish of the 2021 Zimbabwe Derby.