Racing is not really about the money – it’s a mind game – but serious punters won’t agree with that sweeping statement.

So, this is directed at those who race for fun. I will share how I assess a race most of the time – which will horrify some people.

It’s best to start with a cursory glance at the Weights & Draws when some horses will grab your attention, but at this stage leave it at that – maybe just brood a bit when you have nothing better to do.  The horses you initially fancy may not race, bearing in mind dual nominations and so forth.

This is what happened with the Borrowdale Park main race this Sunday, the 1450m Zimbabwe Challenge. Five runners caught my eye, but when the Final Field was published only two of those – Jet Mirage and Brianna – had stood their ground.  The next step was to check out the form of all the runners, but I still fancied Jet Mirage and Brianna, with the former maybe having the edge.

The 1450m trip is a tricky one – mid-way between a sprint and a mile – and most of Jet Mirage’s wins have been over 1200m, but he finished a close second to Holy Land in the 1600m Sunshine Cup in October. He has also finished in front of Brianna in his last two starts.

However, Brianna is a proven sprinter, and her last start was in the 1600m Champion Fillies Stakes where she beat Zavannahgold (who was receiving 10 kgs) by a length.  

Back to the drawing board and a closer look at Jet Mirage’s last two starts.

On the 5^th of November Debra Swanson’s charge, with Syster up, won the 1200m Borrowdale Sprint, and Brianna (Nyamagwete) ran third, two lengths off Jet Mirage who was receiving 1.5 kgs.

Brianna, trained by Gavin Macleod, finished three parts of a length off Jet Mirage in the 1200m Gold Cup Sprint (Gr3) on the 2^nd of December and that day the winner received 3.5 kgs from Brianna.

When Jet Mirage and Brianna meet up on Sunday Jet Mirage, for the first time, will be giving Brianna 3kgs which is a significant turnaround in weights.

I haven’t mentioned the remaining two runners – Wantage and Tradition – which doesn’t mean they are without a chance.  Both have weight on their side and who knows what the going will be like on Sunday.  Harare’s weather, right now, is unpredictable, to put it mildly.

Fortunately, we have a few more days to get our minds around all that.

Photographs by Zimbabwe Equine News.