Jinx Johnson and Apprentice Sawere (nearest camera) team up again on Saturday.

After the lengthy racing break it would be good to win the Borrowdale Park Pick 6 on Saturday. However, although some fields are small, trying to find sure fire winners is quite stressful.

Jack English, Racing Editor at the Herald for many years, said he ignored every horse that hadn’t finished at least once in the first four, in its last four runs. It worked for Jack so I decided to try this. At the end of the exercise I had circled probably 80% of Saturday’s runners in red, which was not helpful.

So, back to the drawing board to make a case for those I fancied. Unfortunately turnovers in weight got in the way, not to mention distances. Horses in with a chance seem pretty evenly spread around the stables which is great, and should make for super racing.

Of course, if you look at the card for long enough some pennies begin to drop. Andrew Fortune, Zimbabwe’s Champion Jockey for 2015/16 has interesting rides, and trainer Amy Bronkhorst has gone for quality rather than quantity.

Her first runner is Jinx Johnson in the first leg of the Pick 6, a 1200m Merit Rated 50 Handicap. This daughter of Tamburlaine (IRE) has raced 6 times for one win and 5 good places. She is the only three-year-old in the race and set to carry 62kgs, but Apprentice Stalon Sawere will claim 4kgs. The filly is drawn 10 out of 11 which is an advantage.

Maybe a tough ask for a three-year-old, and Fortune will be aboard the Brave Tin Soldier gelding, Vidich, who won his only start over 1000m on July 16.

Another claiming apprentice, Marshal Bikausaru, may also have some influence here. He rides Touching Base who will now carry 53.5 kgs. Three runs back Touching Base, with Ryan Munger up and carrying 53.5 kgs, finished third behind Princeton Tiger and Comanche Brave, over this distance.

Comanche Brave is the second runner from the Bronkhorst yard and he steps out in the third leg of the Pick 6, a 1600m MR 74 Handicap. Using the Jack English method I circled each of the 8 runners here but Comanche Brave stands out with two wins and two seconds from his last four starts. On Saturday the son of Kahal (GB) will be ridden by JP van der Merwe. He should go close but has all of Super Good, Noble Peer, Quick Glance and Supa Challenge to deal with.

Amy’s third runner, Enough Said, has quite a lot to do in the fifth leg, a 1700m MR Handicap, with a field of 11. However the five-year-old Tiger Dance (USA) mare ran second to Standpoint over the distance at the last meeting, and Apprentice Sawere will claim 4 kgs. That said I would like to include most of this field. On their day, they could all do something.

With a little bit of luck Zita ( Munger) and Bankers Blues (Fortune) will get you through the second leg, a 1450m MR 65 Handicap. Bletchley Park seems the pick in the 1700m Maiden Plate (fourth leg) having beaten In The Oven, Chum and Heidi last time out, but one of these could turn the tables.

What a relief to reach the get-out stakes, the 1000m AFZ Charity Borrowdale Sprint, where Approval Rating must go close, with Road To Dubai and Newton Power in close contention!
The first race on Saturday, a 1000m Maiden Plate, is due off at 12.05. Don’t miss this opportunity to catch up with everyone you haven’t seen for six weeks.

Approval Rating (nearest the camera) and Pegwell Bay involved in a tight finish over 1000m on September 6, 2015.

Finding winners after our Annual Racing break is never simple and this year there is the added complication of on course alterations, still ongoing. However Zimbabweans usually make a plan…I am sure the trainers have done so….and as everyone is stabled at the course we start with a level playing field.

Main race at Borrowdale Park on Saturday is the AFZ Charity Borrowdale Sprint which is run over 1000m. The Gokhan Terzi trained Approval Rating won this race last year and although he has not been in the Number One box since, a repeat performance would not surprise me. Andrew Fortune takes the ride again.

In 2015 Approval Rating carried 61.5 kgs, and Pegwell Bay, Picalilly and Thriller In Manila filled the minor places. On that occasion none of Saturday’s runners took part in the race, but in the interim Approval Rating has met up with main rivals Road To Dubai and Newton Power several times and has never been disgraced. The seven-year-old now meets this pair on better terms.

Kirk Swanson’s Road To Dubai, recently declared top sprinter for the 2015/16 racing season, definitely comes into the reckoning. However, the five-year-old has never raced over 1000m, although hard to beat from 1100m to 1200m. Keagan de Melo rides The Sheik’s son for the first time, as Francois Herholdt heads for Saudi.

Juan Paul van der Merwe rides Newton Power for Terzi and had they been racing over 1200m it would be hard to choose between Newton Power and Road To Dubai. Newton Power has headed Road To Dubai over this distance when in receipt of 1 kg. This time he will only receive 0.5 kg but has the advantage of an outside draw – always worth considering up the straight at Borrowdale.

Champion trainer Terzi’s third runner is The Mutineer who tends to pop into the minor money when least expected. From 13 starts at Borrowdale he has won once over 1200m, beating Porterhouse. Kevin Derere will be in the irons.

Bridget Stidolph fields Atso’s Scheme, El Gallo and Nimble Dancer, and of these Nimble Dancer has some appeal. By A P Answer (USA) he won four races up the straight in quick succession only to go off the boil. Since being gelded he has shown improvement so can’t be ignored. In October Nimble Dancer beat Road To Dubai over 1100m by 0.75 lengths, receiving 7.5 kgs. He receives 4 kgs here and his regular jockey Brendon McNaughton rides.

Atso’s Scheme will carry 59 kgs to Approval Rating’s 60 kgs, and I would really fancy his chances with less weight. He has won over 1000m and Fanie Chambers has the ride. The five-year-old gelding will jump from the number 8 stall.

Morgan Nyamagwete’s mount, El Gallo, a four-year-old Toreador (IRE) gelding, is making his Borrowdale Park debut. He shed his maiden at Greyville over 1000m. He was unplaced in his last start in KZN on November 6, but prior to that came second to Bunker Hill at Scottsville over 1200m.

Penny Fisher’s yard is represented by Sheik’s Brashee, also a bit of a dark horse. He won five races south of the Limpopo from 1000m to 1200m and I am drawing a line through his only start at Borrowdale. On July 31st this six-year-old son of The Sheik finished about 5 lengths behind Flax over 1450m. On Saturday he will be distance suited so watch out.

Zimbabwe’s Racing Awards for the 2015/16 Season were presented at a Masked Ball held in Harare on Friday evening. Congratulations to all the winners and best wishes for the 2016/17 Racing Season.

Mathematician, by Black Minnaloushe (USA) (below),trained by Bridget Stidolph, owned by Newbury Racing, and bred by Adv A P Joubert, won Horse Of The Year.

Racing resumes at Borrowdale Park on Saturday, September 10, and during the annual break some people have been hard at work. This week they began replacing turf on the new back straight – Gyl…

Source: UPDATE ON BORROWDALE ‘EXCAVATIONS’

Making a start

Racing resumes at Borrowdale Park on Saturday, September 10, and during the annual break some people have been hard at work. This week they began replacing turf on the new back straight – Gyles Dorward is overseeing this operation. We will race on what remains of the old back straight until the new turf is properly rooted.

You will be able to see the work in progress when you attend the first race meeting. Expect more dust than usual, and maybe some minor hiccups, but whining and cursing won’t speed things up. A start has been made on revamping Borrowdale Park!

LET’S BE POSITIVE..for a change

Winds of change, for the better, are breezing through Borrowdale Park. Last week Christopher Peech, the Mashonaland Turf Club chairman, advised MTC members that work has already begun on repositioning part of the course. He also detailed future plans which will transform our Turf Club into a viable entity, which will contribute to employment in general, enhance the area, and ensure live racing continues into the foreseeable future.

What more could those of us who are, and always have been Borrowdale Park fans, ask? In getting there we may have to put up with things we don’t like but let’s limit muttering and gnashing of teeth to a minimum – and be positive for a change.

I recently visited the on course “construction site” and have to admit my initial reaction fell into the “OMG I hope they know what they are doing” category. However after half an hour of eavesdropping on the experts, while dodging massive top loaders and so forth, I became caught up in their enthusiasm. Something is happening at last and the MTC’S Master Plan, revealed some time ago, seems not only possible, but probable, and I hope I’m still around to see it completed.

WHAT WE CAN DO

In the meantime what can we do while we are being positive, and waiting for the MTC Management Committee to sort everything out? Well, it’s no use having a snazzy racecourse without owners and trainers, so talk about syndicates, and remind friends we still race in Harare, and it’s fun.

Right now we need more owners, horses and trainers based at Borrowdale…and don’t be in such a hurry to retire your racehorse. Quite a few improve as time passes – when given the chance.

And talking about retiring horses (when they are 10-year-olds), we need to start thinking about their retirement.

Once the Master Plan is in operation and the MTC is able to concentrate solely on running racing and Lotto, it is anticipated the club will become an important donor to charitable causes. I like that…and because charity begins at home let us start, right away, investigating what is happening, worldwide, in terms of sanctuaries and re-training facilities for ex- racehorses.More horses will mean more will be looking for a happy home, once they have given us their best, or tried to, on the course.

I heard about the Old Friends Equine Organisation some time ago http://www.oldfriendsequine.org/about-us.html   It was formed in 2003, following on news that Kentucky Derby winner, Ferdinand, had died in a slaughterhouse. A Board of Directors was formed and it started with a leased paddock and two horses.

By 2014 Old Friends had grown into a 136-acre owned farm, additional leased acres, and a satellite facility in New York. In all, Old Friends supports over 150 rescued and retired. Thoroughbreds. They have brought back a stallion from Japan, are a registered charity, and hold open days for the public. Follow the link above for more information. Old Friends is very visible on social media and seems to raise funds very successfully that way.

It seems there are many sanctuaries for ex-racehorses in the United States and the United Kingdom. Heros in Britain http://www.heroscharity.org/ have rehomed hundreds of horses, and another rehoming and retraining centre is http://www.racehorsesanctuary.org/ . Some racecourses help out with subsidies, but most of the farms are also into fund raising themselves.

I have not completely lost it. I know everyone is currently facing difficult economic circumstances and that racing is an expensive hobby, but so are other things. While we are being positive we might as well think about doing something constructive, and good.

Wylde Style, owned and bred by Peter Moor, for the fourth time in succession showed her field a clean pair of heels, and beat the boys in the 1450m Thoroughbred Breeders Champagne Stakes Listed, at Borrowdale Park on Sunday.

Unfortunately I can’t  detail  how the daughter of West Man (USA) went about it because Tellytrack never showed Borrowdale Park’s main race on Sunday – ever.
Randall Simons was in the irons and Amy Bronkhorst’s charge finished four lengths clear of Rhythmical Reply, with Determination and Rebel Soldier following.

Amy is seen here with Randall Simons, Adrian Nydam and ZBTA Chairman Kevin Fallon. The winner started at 4/10 and duly delivered.

Photograph: Gavin Macleod

We have been waiting for former Kranje favourite to show us what  he can do, and he came to light in the 1450m Breeders Sprint on Sunday, finishing 1.75 lengths clear of Newton Power and the more fancied  Eurakilon and Whiteline Fever.  

The nine-year-old gelding, by Silvano (GER) has now won 10 races.  He ran in the Castle Tankard, OK Grand Challenge and Republic Trust Cup and, although not disgraced, the allotted weight was just too hot to handle. Back on a level playing field he proved a force to be reckoned with. Not such good news for Pick 6 punters as Flax started at 20/1.

Since arriving in Zimbabwe Flax has been with trainer Bridget Stidolph and he teamed up with Brendon McNaughton here.. He is owned by Newbury Racing (Pty) Ltd (nominee Denis Evans), and was bred by Maine Chance Farms.

Zimbabwe Thoroughbred Breeders Association Council member,Sally Hale, presented the Breeders Sprint Trophy to Bridget and Brendon.

Photograph: Gavin Macleod

We all appreciate the Gavin Macleod photographs snapped at Borrowdale Park but on Sunday he really kept his cool and pressed the right button just when Golden Mystery – a filly he part owns, and trains – appeared to be headed by a fast finishing Jinx Johnson.

However Golden Mystery (below, nearest camera) with Andrew Fortune up, wasn’t having that and fought back to win the Breeders Fillies Mile, beating Jinx Johnson (Randall Simons) by half a length. Lady Carina and Explorer’s Club, third and fourth, finished several lengths back.

Congratulations Gokhan Terzi – champion trainer at Borrowdale for the 2015-2016 racing season – and well done to the Glenwood Racing team on this achievement.

To seal the deal Terzi saddled four winners at Sunday’s Borrowdale Park race meeting including Esprit de Corps, Majestic Legacy, Standpoint and Bankers Blues.

ANOTHER GOOD DAY FOR TERZI

Saturday proved to be a very good day for the Terzi stable. They saddled the winners of the first four races at Borrowdale Park, including Dirty Champagne (below), who went for, and got, his fourth successive victory in the 1200m MR 75 Handicap. Lance Pagel was aboard and the close finish involved The Mutineer, Nimble Dancer and Super Good.

Dirty Champagne, a five year old gelding by Var (USA) out of a Lecture (USA) mare was bred by Milkwood Stud. He is owned by Messrs T.J. Shawe, G.G. Terzi and G.V. Woodruff.

FOR PATRICIA

The two-year-old Gharir colt, Rebel Soldier, running in the colours of the late Patricia Wakefield, Pat Devenish, Mike Eaton and Ron Mhizha, won the 1600m Maiden Plate  – seems like he was waiting for some extra ground.

Kevin Derere rode Rebel Soldier for Gokhan Terzi  and Peter Moor is the breeder.