By Diana M. Wakefield Hawkins

Var Aglow, ZimFun Racing Club’s up and coming superstar, trained by Debra Swanson has to date racked up five consecutive wins at Borrowdale Park—a total of eight since he raced as a two-year-old in 2020. On Saturday he is facing his stiffest competition ever in the (Gr1),$80 000 OK Grand Challenge run over 1800m, on Saturday, June 8.

The OK Grand Challenge, Swanson says, is a tough race over 1800 metres that may be longer than Var Aglow’s optimal distance of between 1100-1200 metres. But he’s a tryer, she says, and the grandstands will be overflowing with thousands of race fans cheering for him and his jockey, Morgen Nyamagwete, wearing ZimFun Racing’s bright yellow silks with the distinctive black smiley face.

Swanson, who was named Champion Zimbabwe trainer in the 2022/23 racing season, describes him as a big, solid, tough-minded horse that is an absolute pleasure to train.

“He does have his little quirky streaks and he’ll let you know what he doesn’t like. But I set him up to win and have never sent him out on his own. He’s also a real people pleaser—never allows me to walk through the yard without his handsome head appearing over his stable door, inviting me to stop and give him attention. He’s such a special horse with a humbling desire to please,” she said.

Jockey Deryl Daniels who rode Var Aglow in three of his winning races, said, “He’s a big solid horse, sound as they come, and he’s a soldier who fights to the line. He also wears his heart on his sleeve,” Daniels added, “and every time I’ve ridden him, he’s been kind and willing and just puts it all out there.”

Var Aglow’s South African breeder Vanessa Harrison also speaks of him with deep affection: “He has a huge personality and the kindest temperament,” she said. “He’s also affectionate, amusing with his little tricks, and adores carrots. I love him dearly, and he will always remain my favourite ‘best boy.’” She noted that when his racing days are over, she plans to bring him home and care for him herself until the end of his days.

Var Aglow is a powerful chestnut gelding, son of the group one winner, VAR, a champion sprinter who was bred in America by Kentucky breeder, Dr. John Eaton. After winning seven races between 1000-1200 metres in the USA, UK, and France, VAR was exported to South Africa’s Avontuur Stud in Somerset West, Western Cape, where until his death in 2022, he sired 56 winners of top-graded races.

ZimFun’s second most winning horse was Deposition. This spunky bay gelding was trained by Amy Bronkhorst and assistant Mike Mallett. While racing in ZimFun colours between Dec 2021 and Feb 2023, he amassed four exciting victories and seven place finishes.

Qunetra, is a bay gelding and was ZimFun’s third most winning horse. He was trained by Bridget Stidolph, top Zimbabwe trainer during the 2020/21 season. Qunetra was born in South Africa in 2017 and went north to Zimbabwe as a five-year-old in 2022. He thrilled ZimFunners with three wins and eight place finishes but saddened them when he pulled a tendon in his left leg during training in Dec 2023. The injury was severe, and he was retired from racing. Jockey Leslie Marwing rode those three back-to-back wins on Qunetra. “Although he was not the easiest of rides, I got to build an affinity with him and learned what made him tick. When all that came together it would only take a good one to beat him,” he said.

Thoroughbred racing was introduced to Zimbabwe 132 years ago, in 1892, and reached its pinnacle in the 1990s, when a Zimbabwean-bred horse, Ipi Tombe, made headlines around the world after capturing eight stakes’ races in four different countries—Zimbabwe, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, and the United States. While this talented bay filly was wowing international racegoers, back home in Zimbabwe political unrest and farm seizures, beginning in 2001, were destroying the country’s once vibrant thoroughbred breeding industry. Despite these setbacks, racing at Borrowdale Park in Harare limped on, but eventually the dwindling number of horses available to compete in races resulted in fewer and fewer scheduled meetings.

To energize local racing, a group of racing enthusiasts led by C. John Smith, MBE, former chairman of the Mashonaland Owners and Trainers Association and now a Mashonaland Turf Club steward, got together in 2020 to formulate a plan. They created a racing club, naming it the ZimFun Racing Club Ltd. After applying for racing colors and with all necessary licenses approved, they began enrolling members.

Today the club’s membership includes hundreds of race fans, some local, with others from countries all over the world—all keeping abreast of ZimFun activities by watching Borrowdale Park races on YouTube and communicating with one another over a WhatsApp chat group. The cost of a share in ZimFun Racing is a reasonable US$100 per year and individuals can purchase multiple shares.

“Multiple shares help us raise sufficient funds to buy quality horses,” Smith said. “The club also encourages local members of the public to attend race meetings. This gives newbies an opportunity to learn the ins and outs of the racing game, and in turn, helps us to attract new owners which will increase the number of horses,” he said.

Since it was formed in 2020, ZimFun has owned eight horses, six of which (75 percent) that have won races—an impressive statistic. Its first horse was TRICKY BUSINESS, who romped home for his first win at Borrowdale Park on Dec 11, 2020.

VAR AGLOW (SAF) a chestnut gelding, was born 2016, by VAR (USA) out of JET AGLOW (SAF) by JETMASTER (SAF).

He raced in South Africa for 3 seasons in the colours of his breeder, Mrs. Vanessa Harrison, with a race record of 20 starts with 2 wins and 8 places. Harrison shipped him to Zimbabwe where he raced under her colours and was trained by Gokhan Terzi. Between 1-13 Jul 2022, he raced twice at Borrowdale Park, placed once, and won one race, the 13 July 2022 Merit Rated Handicap. Afterwards, Terzi moved his training stable to South Africa, leaving behind several Zimbabwean horses, including VAR AGLOW. VAR AGLOW was then sent to a stable of polo ponies. His new owner, however, considered him a less than suitable mount for a polocrosse player, so a short time later Mike Brown turned VAR AGLOW over to ZimFun Racing Club and the training stable of Debra Swanson. Between 14 Jan-11 May 2024, he won his next five races.