The Kirk Swanson yard, with Norbert Takawira in the irons, paid two visits to the Borrowdale Park winner’s enclosure on Sunday.
First up was the Pathfork mare, Mill Creek, who narrowly held off Jardin in the 1100m MR 65 Handicap. She is owned by Messrs C G & R Bonthrone & Mrs J B Bonthrone, Ms S P Moyo, Mr G Tafeni and Dr Ben Mugabe. Bred by Avontuur Thoroughbred Farm this was Mill Creek’s fifth victory.
Another close finish came in the 1900m MR 70 Handicap when the Swanson-trained Haga Haga came from behind to beat Tomcat Racing’s Seattle Frost by a whisker. The seven-year-old Haga Haga, by Mullins Bay (GB), has now won nine races. He is owned by Drs Ben Mugabe and Ronald Mhizha.
The Bridget Stidolph yard, paired with Teaque Travis Gould, won three of the seven races at Borrowdale Park on Sunday – including the Ipi Tombe Stakes (L) with Wantage.
Earlier in the afternoon Ultra Edge scored in the 1450m Maiden Plate, soon followed by Fortuna Doro in the MR 75 Handicap, also over 1450m.
Wantage is owned by Gael and Denis Evans of Newbury Racing (Pty) Ltd. Messrs R S Dyer, S N Buchan, N Evans, M K Chant, G de Jong, A Dixon, R Morgan, R Sherwood and Bryn Russell would have been shouting for Ultra Edge, and most of them, in the very next race, would have cheered Fortuna Doro to the wire.
Four-year-old Wantage defied all the odds and won the 1600m Ipi Tombe Stakes (L) at Borrowdale Park this afternoon. He took on his elders at level weights and made it look easy.
By Ato, bred by Newbury Racing and Breeding Ltd, and owned by Newbury Racing (Pty) Ltd (nominee Mr D E Evans), Wantage showed promise as a three-year-old and he has now won 6 races. Teaque Gould was in the irons and this was his third win of the afternoon, riding for the Bridget Stidolph yard.
Congratulations to all the winning connections.
The two most fancied runners fluffed the start. Yarraman broke out of the stalls and had to be brought back from the 1400m mark and reloaded – he finished fourth. Peggson was very slow away and was left with far too much to do, although he tried hard to catch up with the field.
Mr Greenlight came second, and Three To Tango third. The winning margins, when available, will be interesting.
Peggson and Yarraman have each had a moment of glory in the 1600m Ipi Tombe Stakes (L) and they step out again at Borrowdale Park on Sunday, 7th March, aiming for a repeat performance.
This year there are seven contestants all set to carry 60 kgs in the race which honours Ipi Tombe, but at the weights the previous winners may be hard to beat.
In 2019 Peggson, by Jaypeg and with Brendon McNaughton up, beat Twilight Trip by 0.75 lengths in good going, and Simona ran third. Peggson went on to win the Castle Tankard that year.
In 2020 Yarraman, by Await The Dawn (USA) and ridden by Hennie Greyling, beat Peggson (Thackeray) by half a length. Three To Tango (Takawira) came third – that day Fareeq was almost 11 lengths behind the winner. The conditions were soft underfoot and since then Yarraman has won the 1800m National Foods Cup, in soft going, beating Peggson who was giving the winner 4 kgs, and Sunday’s runners Mr Greenlight, Wantage, Fareeq and Three To Tango.
Mr Greenlight was an impressive winner over 1260m in his last outing, and in December, in an 1800m Pinnacle Plate, Three To Tango (*Satombo) beat all of Wantage Yarraman, Peggson and Fareeq, in soft going, but the weights are very different now, although presumably Satombo will be claiming 2.5 kgs.
Last, but not least, in this competitive field is Bugatti Blue who has won his last two starts over 2000m and 1700m. The son of Traffic Guard (USA) usually puts his best hoof put forward but may have to try harder here.
Yarraman won the Ipi Tombe Stakes in 2020. Photograph by Zimbabwe Equine News.
Dindingwe (the Cheetah) won the Betty Prosser Fillies Classic, first leg of Zimbabwe’s Triple Tiara, at Borrowdale Park today.
Bred by Ndoro Stud, the daughter of Futura has a host of owners headed by the Shepherd family, and this was her fourth win from five starts. This filly is in the Swanson yard and Apprentice Rodgers Satombo had the ride. The Swanson stable, and *Satombo, had a great afternoon, winning four of the seven races on the card.
The Fillies Classic provided some anxious moments when, 300m from the line, frontrunner Mazikeen seemed to be determined to hold off Dindingwe, but the favourite persevered and drew away to win comfortably. Mazikeen was second, then True Beauty and Obscure.
The first race at Borrowdale Park today, Wednesday, February 24, 2020, is off at 12 30.
COVID-19 protocols apply so racing is still behind closed doors.
View or download the online race card from this site – where a link to the livestream will also appear. In addition, the Borrowdale races will be on Tellytrack Channel 249.
Last Wednesday the scheduled Borrowdale Park race meeting was postponed due to heavy rain and it was carried forward to Wednesday 24 February – same card and featuring the Fillies Classic.
At the time of writing, it is all systems go barring another flood. The meeting will be held behind closed doors and information published previously is on this site.
If you have studied the card you will have noticed Wednesday’s races are named after some of the late Betty Prosser’s favourite horses, one of which was Moment In The Sun. With a name like that how could the son of Kitalpha (USA) fail to have significant impact?
Born in 2008, ‘Moment’ was owned by Betty Prosser and Peter Moor and he raced at Borrowdale from February 2012 to December 2014. He won four races and was placed 22 times from 32 runs – and wouldn’t we all like to share in such a super trooper?
Sooner or later every racing scribe gets around to writing about What’s In A Name and https://dailyracingblog.com/ did so recently. Although originating from America the information about the rules regarding naming a racehorse also applies here, but at the end of the serious stuff the author states, “But most of all have fun with the name” and I quote:
‘In 1989 there was a filly named THE BRIDE. She never won a race in her short career, but at least one time, at some nondescript racecourse, as the horses made the turn for home, the track announcer got to bellow “And here comes THE BRIDE!’
Perhaps when choosing a name, one should also give more thought to the commentator.
A long time ago I named a horse Something Else…only because I became fed up with choosing brilliant names and then finding out those names were taken. So, I had to think of something else, and eventually decided the only option was to name the colt Something Else. He won races and I had no problem with the name – but Mervyn Hamilton did. One day at Borrowdale I was within earshot of an interesting conversation.
‘What was the horse you could not identify, Mervyn? – and Mervyn, who didn’t pull any punches, snarled, ‘I could identify the horse, but some idiot named him Something Else.’
So, if you can’t come up with a suitable winning name, you can always concentrate on enraging the commentator…
Joking aside, a horse with a perfect name usually wins races, so what about the Fillies Classic? True Beauty is a great name, but will someone please translate Dindingwe?
PS I now know Dindingwe means Cheetah. Thank you Charles Rwizi
The Mashonaland Turf Club has postponed tomorrow’s (Wednesday, 17 February) race meeting. The course was inspected at 9 pm this evening after heavy rain. In excess of 50mm has been recorded, it is still raining, and more rain is forecast.
Racing at Borrowdale Park in Harare - Zimbabwe 