Zazu, a daughter of Global View (USA) won over 2700m, again, for her owners the Watanga Syndicate (nominee: Sandy Schwartz).
This time the five-year-old mare, bred by Ascot Stud, won the Damara Stayers Challenge at Borrowdale Park on Saturday the 13th of July and she has now won five times.
She is trained by Debra Swanson and Jeffery Syster was in the irons. Zazu led from start to finish and although Coffeeberry (Thackeray) drew closer towards the finish, there was never any doubt about the winner.
Owner Craig Danckwertz, trainer Thomas Mason, and jockey Matthew Thackeray, at Borrowdale Park on Saturday 13 July 2024, when Action Zone won the 1600m Round Table Pinnacle Plate 95.
Bugatti Blue (Syster) was a length off the winner and then came Tradition and Jubilee. By Canford Cliffs (IRE), the four-year-old Action Zone was bred by Daytona Stud (Pty) Ltd. and this was his sixth victory
There is racing at Borrowdale Park tomorrow and the first race is at 12 00. However, I have been informed of changes to some of the race times at Borrowdale Park on Saturday 13 July 2024:
The Don’t Horse Around Syndicate (nominee M Moxon) certainly haven’t been messing about since they began racing at Borrowdale Park at the beginning of this year.
On Saturday 29 June 2024 their second import from South Africa, Ultimate Jewel, won the 1100m MR 75 Handicap, having previously won at Borrowdale on the 11th of May. The four-year-old Rabada gelding, bred by Summerhill Stud, was ridden by Deryl Daniels and is trained by Debra Swanson.
Just before that race Bello Grosso (Swanson/ Daniels) won the 1450m MR 65 Handicap for the Don’t Horse Around Syndicate – and that Erupt (IRE) 4-year-old, bred by Piedmonte Stud, has now won three times since beginning to race in Harare in January.
Both these races resulted in close finishes. Captive Moon (Macleod/Sibands) was 0.10 lengths off the winner, Bello Grosso, while Jusrite (Macleod/Nyamagwete) was three parts of a length off Ultimate Jewel.
Two-year-old filly Trustfall won the Maiden Plate.
The Brumbies, also known as Paul Rugg, Grant Littleford, and Spencer Murray, had a field day at Borrowdale Park on the 29th of June 2024, winning three of the seven races.
Trustfall (Swanson/Syster) won the first one, the 1000m Maiden Plate, and then Walking Thru Time (Parham/Brewer) took the 1700m MR 80 Handicap.
CJ Smith, along with the Brumbies, has shares in Jet Mirage (Swanson/Syster), and he won the 1260m Pinnacle Plate, beating Citrusdal (Josi) by three lengths.
Certainly, a day to remember. Well done everyone.
Photographs by Zimbabwe Equine News.Below: (left) Walking Thru Time, (right) Jet Mirage.
New Galaxy, the three-year-old daughter of New Predator (AUS), held off stable mate Trust Me at Borrowdale Park yesterday, and won the 1800m Silver Slipper (L), the second leg of Zimbabwe’s Triple Tiara.
Thomas Mason’s charge had already won the first leg, the Fillies Mile, so now it’s all systems go for the Zimbabwe Oaks, which is run over 2000m.
New Galaxy is owned by Anna Mason, Sibongile Moyo, Edith Tapfuma, Rosemary Dorward, Ron Mhizha, Dave Machingaidze and Liam Kidd. A cool, calm and collected Kaidan Brewer was riding and the filly was bred by Tawny Syndicate.
Congratulations everyone!
Morgen Nyamagwete was on Trust Me who finished three-parts of a length back, and then came Emma Of Normandy (Josi) and Dark Future (Syster).
The first race at Borrowdale Park on Saturday is off at 11 45 am, and the feature is the 1800m Silver Slipper (L), the last on the 7-race card.
New Galaxy, winner of the Fillies Classic, the first leg of Zimbabwe’s Triple Tiara, will be hoping to add to her Classic laurels, but has yet to go further than 1600m. This applies to several of Saturday’s field and I will be watching the Futura filly, Dark Future, who was much improved last time out, finishing a length off New Galaxy.
The link to the online Borrowdale card can be found on this site, and The Centaurian’s latest column has also been posted here. For those unable to come to the course the link to Formgrids‘ Borrowdale live stream will be published later.
Forgotten Time, with Jarryd Penny up, won the 1260m Allowance Plate at Borrowdale Park on the 8th of June, comfortably.
The five-year-old son of Time Thief (AUS) usually finishes somewhere in the money, (before coming to Borrowdale late in 2022 he raced in South Africa), and his win on OK Grand Challenge Day was his third victory overall – and his second in Zimbabwe. The gelding was bred by Nadeson Park Stud.
Assistant trainer Mike Mallett and owners Grant Littleford, Paul Rugg and Spencer Murray were on course that day – and enjoying every moment.
Despite all the other excitements at Borrowdale Park on the day of the OK Grand Challenge, New Galaxy’s victory in the 1600m Fillies Classic should not be overlooked.
The Fillies Classic is for three-year-old fillies and it is the first leg of Zimbabwe’s Triple Tiara. Next up should be the 1800m Silver Slipper, followed by the 2000m Zimbabwe Oaks. The 2023/4 racing season ends on the 31st of July so there is not much time to fit the remaining two legs in.
New Galaxy was having her sixth start on the 8th of June, and she is now a two-time winner. By New Predator (AUS) and bred by Tawny Syndicate, she is owned by Mesdames A G Mason, Edith Tapfuma, S P Moyo and Mr G Tafeni, Messrs D T Machingaidze and Dr Ronald Mhizha. Corne Orffer was on board the filly in the Fillies Classic, and she is trained by Thomas Mason.
Buster Barnes (Daniels), then Raffles (Orffer), Raining Again (Sibanda)and Ideal View (Syster).
Zimbabwe’s super-duper three-year-old, Buster Barnes, won the $80 000 OK Grand Challenge at Borrowdale Park this afternoon – denying Castle Tankard winner Raffles a Grade One double just when it seemed he would succeed.
The son of Erupt (Ire) is owned by the Centaur Syndicate (nominee Craig Danckwerts) and is trained by Debra Swanson. Deryl Daniels was in the irons and Buster Barnes was bred by Millstream Farm. Congratulations to everyone concerned.
Raffles (Orffer) also impressed, running a great race over 1800m while giving the winner 10kgs. Raining Again (Sibanda) came third, and Ideal View (Syster) fourth.
Trained by Bridget Stidolph, Raffles won the $ 50,000 Castle Tankard on the 11th of May, and his many supporters will be hoping he can win another Grade 1 event at Borrowdale Park on Saturday when he faces 14 rivals in the $80,000 OK Grand Challenge over 1800m.
The Castle Tankard is raced over 2000m but few of Saturday’s runners will be bothered by a shorter trip.
Raffles, by Time Thief (AUS), is a four-year-old formerly trained by Roy Magner in Gauteng, for whom he won two races. The gelding won his first start for the Stidolph yard on the 21st of April, and followed up by winning the 2000m Castle Tankard on the 11th of May, finishing 3 lengths clear of Majestic Warrior who was receiving 6 kgs. Wantage and Ideal View ran third and fourth respectively.
On Tankard Day Wantage received 3.5 kgs from Raffles while Ideal View was giving the winner one kilogram. All of Majestic Warrior, Wantage, and Ideal View, meet Raffles on better terms on Saturday, but Raffles has the better draw.
Another OK runner attracting considerable interest is Jaeger Moon (above) a six-year-old gelding by Capetown Noir who won the 2400m East Cape Derby, and the 1800m East Cape Guineas at Fairview in 2021. He has won 9 races from 1600m to 2400m.
His first and only start at Borrowdale was on the 26th of May when carrying 60.5 kgs, he beat Tigers Eagle (54 kgs) by 1.75 lengths in an 1800m MR 90 Handicap. Before joining the Swanson yard Jaeger Moon was trained by Gavin Smith, and it will be interesting to see how he fares against some of Borrowdale’s best.
The field also includes the champion three-year-old Buster Barnes, who carries 52 kgs but is drawn fairly wide, and several others who could make the ‘favourites ’ pick up their heels.
When trying to predict the likely winner of these big races I am perhaps overly cautious because I have learned the hard way to be prepared to be surprised. The only certainty is that we are in for a great race.
Photographs by Zimbabwe Equine News & Chase Liebenberg
Raffles with Gavin Lerena up won the 2024 Castle Tankard in May. Hecarries top weight and is drawn 5 in the OK Grand Challenge at Borrowdale Park on Saturday. Corne Orffer has the ride.
Var Aglow for the ZimFun Racing Club with Deryl Daniels in the irons.
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.
Racing at Borrowdale Park in Harare - Zimbabwe 