By The Centaurian

Some time ago, I asked my regular readers to ‘watch this space’ as there would be good news coming – so this is the space for that good news – or some of it!

I am sorry that it has taken a bit longer than expected to achieve but unless the Gods have something in mind for us that we can’t foretell, the 2025/26 racing season will be the most cathartic year for horse racing since 1958, when Borrowdale Park first opened its gates.

From an owner’s point of view, the first sign of change was announced recently by the Board of Stewards – stakes are to go up for the first time in a very long time. vis:

                        Race 1                         all maidens/juveniles             $2,000

                        Races 2 – 5/6              all minor races                        $3,000

                        Race 6/7                      club feature race                    $4,000

This good news comes just weeks before the next Race Coast sale of two year olds in South Africa – and gives Zimbos a much better justification for getting their hands in their pockets! It should also be noted that we have negotiated to be included in the Race Coast R100,000 inventive plan – good news for Zim owners in the future – and maybe, RSA owners might like to send a few up here now to access this fund if they are not so successful down south.

It should be noted that from the commencement of the new season, it is likely that we shall, in the main, race every three weeks, on a Friday – unless a sponsor requires otherwise. We shall also endeavour to provide for up to 7 or even 8 races at each meeting – but no less than 5. We might be able to race 16 or 17 times per year to give us the same number of actual races as we did last season – i.e. 120

There has been much debate about Friday racing – well it’s all about flights back to RSA – on a Saturday the last flight home is about 5 pm – which means racing has to stop around 2.45 p.m. – hopeless in my view. On Fridays, the last flight is at 6.40 pm – giving us time to race later and finish later – say 1.00 pm and 4.30 pm. Trials in the last season for these times worked very well – who wouldn’t like to take a Friday afternoon off? Go racing, have a few drinks afterwards and then go straight out for dinner – I can recommend the crayfish tails at La Parada.

I will write more about other important developments shortly, but for now, and this is only my own personal view – and is not necessarily endorsed by the Board of Stewards – I have some ideas as to just how much of an annual income we actually need to put us ahead of SA racing – outside sponsorships.

My view is that over the next five or six years we should try to get to point where we race every two weeks, with seven races of seven or eight runners – or 50 runners in total. From my empirical evidence, to achieve this we need a total racing population of about 150 to 160 horses.

I think our goal must be to provide a total pot of purse money which will cover – in theory – the total cost of training such a number of horses – at say, current prices, of $9,000 per annum. This gives us a total sum of $1,440,000 needed per annum. Taking off the $120,000 the MTC currently provide, the income target we should aim for over a period of time is $1,320,000.

I think if we continue our current direction of travel and add in the revenue which would devolve to the MTC once we unlock the betting opportunities which will emerge with bigger fields, I think the target is attainable

Put another way, this proposal would see every race horse being able, on average, to cover its full training costs each year by say 2030.

It also means that the average purse per race would be $12,000 – or over Rand 200,000.

That would be some achievement.

Then, from a broader economic point of view, there will be substantial employment opportunities and increased tax revenue for the exchequer.

Yes, I hear the protestations, impossible, pipe dreams, it can never happen – but I believe with the right people in charge, sound planning, prudent financial management, some patience and much effort the target is well achievable by 2030. Bear in mind, in 2018 who thought racing at Borrowdale Park would survive at all? – this is Zimbos at their very best – ‘always making a plan’.

2024/25 saw the Mashonaland Turf Club break even for the first time in decades, without a single cent of betting revenue – it’s onwards and upwards from here.

18^th September 2025