What a pity Gael and Dennis Evans were unable to be at Borrowdale Park on Sunday to see their home bred colt, Wantage, carry 60 kgs and win the 1600m Guineas Trial by three lengths.

The son of Ato out of the Tamburlaine (IRE) mare, Angora, is owned by Newbury Racing (Pty) Ltd and has now won three and placed six times from 10 starts.

Trained by Bridget Stidolph, Wantage was ridden by Mathew Thackeray. Tree Of Wisdom, Lil Miss Gee and Donegal Glen filled the minor places.

Congratulations to the winning connections.

Photograph by Zimbabwe Equine News

The first two races at Borrowdale Park on Sunday went Kirk Swanson’s way, with Zambezi Rapids winning the 1200m Maiden Plate, and Double Tap (pictured) beating stablemate Ineffable to the line in the 1900m MR 61 Handicap.

By Twice Over (GB) and bred by Cheveley Stud, Double Tap is now a four-time winner. The five-year-old gelding is owned by Dr Ronald Mhizha, Mr N Chiminya and Ms S N Mehlomakhulu. In form jockey, Norbert Takawira was riding.

Well done everyone.

Photograph by Zimbabwe Equine News.

So, it wasn’t a bad Guineas Trial after all. Top weighted Wantage played a waiting game in the 1600m feature at Borrowdale Park on Sunday afternoon and showed the field a clean pair of heels about 300m from the finish.

Donegal Glen led them into the home straight but had to settle for fourth behind Tree Of Wisdom (second) and rank outsider Lil Miss Gee.

By Ato and owned and bred by Newbury Racing (Pty) Ltd (nominee Mr D E Evans), Wantage is trained by Bridget Stidolph and Mathew Thackeray was in the irons.

Congratulations to the winning connections. The three-year-old colt has now won three and been placed six times from 10 starts – bring on the Zimbabwe Guineas.

Photograph by Jenny Stock: Wantage earlier in his career with Mathew Thackeray aboard.

On October 20 in a 1800m MR 80 Handicap, Wolves Among Sheep held off Bugatti Blue in a close finish. That day Bugatti Blue was receiving half a kg from Wolves Among Sheep. This afternoon at Borrowdale Park he will give the son of Philanthropist 2 kgs.

The pair should make a race of it in today’s 1800m event, but every one of the other five runners also has the credentials to shine. This field includes Fareeq, Three To Tango, In The Mood, Yarraman and Arte.

The 1800m Merit Rated 89 Handicap is the third race on the card and is due off at 13 10. Be there.

Photograph by Gavin MacLeod. Wolves Among Sheep and Bugatti Blue.

Christofle, with Mathew Thackeray in the irons and riding for Bridget Stidolph, won the 1100m Hachiman Sprint at Borrowdale Park.

Silver Coin was second, then What A Dandy and fourth Coastal Torrent,

By Tiger Ridge (USA), Christofle is owned by Messrs SH Murray, C Davenport, K Hatendi, Duncan Jones, GM Littleford, G Martell, HD Parbhoo,, CM Rambo, PC Rugg, DC Samuels and SW Shutt. Congratulations. He was bred by Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein.

The afternoon’s training honours went to Vee Racing, the Gokhan Terzi satellite yard managed by Vanessa Birketoft, with four of the winners on the 8-race card. Hennie Greyling rode three of them.

The Swanson yard saddled three winners.

Well done everyone.

Borrowdale Park jockey Norbert Takawira was riding high on Sunday afternoon scoring with Supa Memories, Ezekial and Perfect Grace for trainer Kirk Swanson. This was Perfect Grace’s 10th victory.

Norbert is seen here on Bugatti Blue. Photograph by Zimbabwe Equine News.

The 1100m Hachiman Sprint on Sunday is Borrowdale Park’s first feature race of 2020. It is a competitive field of six runners, including one dark filly – Alphabet Street – who makes her local debut.

This race is due off at 16.45.

I am going to stick my neck out and say Christofle, Silver Coin and What A Dandy should be involved in the finish – so watch one not mentioned win.
There are 8 races on the card – the first at 12.35 pm.

Have a nice day.

Zimbabwe only has one racecourse now – Borrowdale Park – but it is one of the best in Southern Africa. In addition to a 2700m course (turf) we have all the facilities. Some need TLC but we know what needs fixing and how to bring the crowds, and more owners and trainers, back. All that is needed is extra cash.

Do I think the racing community worldwide will rush to our rescue? Of course not – but are we missing some tricks?

I am fascinated by a recently published Facebook page – Kenya Horseracing – where appeals are made for financing an all-weather track, updating the stand, providing accommodation for visiting international jockeys, a casino, introducing hurdle races, as well as acquiring additional horses and trainers, and more.

At the same time the enterprising owner of the webpage is enthusiastically promoting Ngong racecourse and Kenyan racing while comparing costs of owning and racing horses in Kenya with costs in Britain. It would appear from Comments and Page Likes that he is generating quite a lot of initial interest in what he is offering.

A couple of things are not clear… such as… are the Ngong authorities actively involved in this initiative, and surely the amount of paperwork and red tape involved would be mind boggling. That said, promotion of racing on this continent is always welcome so the best of British luck and all that.

Back in the day there was some hurdle racing at Borrowdale Park – and at Ascot in Bulawayo. Stars of the show were Phil The Fluter, Emma O’Toole and Keith Chant, but I found it all rather nerve-wracking.

Racing in Zimbabwe has managed to keep its head just above water, so far, without much needed and significant injections of money. Amazing, considering the economic difficulties Zimbabwe has faced for years. However, the pool of horses, owners and trainers is sadly diminished, and we dream of bringing Borrowdale Park’s glory days back.

A vibrant racecourse boosts employment within the racing industry and it also benefits suppliers and other associated businesses.

When one considers the vast recent expenditures in strap-cashed Zimbabwe into agriculture and other ventures…seemingly without much accountability or meaningful return …. what racing would need to exit the doldrums is a mere bagatelle.

Hollywood Bets has recently teamed up with Gold Circle to boost racing in KZN. On Boxing Day, 26 December 2019, Greyville racecourse in Durban was packed without any huge feature race or special offers to draw the crowd. How did they do that?

Are we missing some tricks? It’s certainly worth thinking about.

and the Chairman responds…

“Thank you for taking the time to post on social media the criticism of how the MTC website is managed. Whilst I believe it is correct that people can express an opinion and post constructive feedback on these social media platforms I also believe that the best way to get a proper response is in the first instance to talk to those people responsible before posting.

“However … it is true that the MTC website has been an issue for many years. Whilst accepting that its responsiveness and content has to improve, I do note that the last update was around 30th November, not good but better than the 2015 material on there when the present ‘people responsible ‘took over. I will try not to revert to the stock response about having to prioritise spending the limited resources at our disposal but that particular albatross is a constant.

“The publication of the 2020 racing programme has been delayed as we felt it high time that the programme was reviewed in consultation with the trainers to reflect and meet the needs of our current racing stock, rather than just publish the same programme that had been in place for years. The trainers have had the programme since the racing centre meeting held on Tuesday 10 December 2019, at which every trainer was present. This will only be posted once finalised as each trainer has to agree to a variety of conditions, regardless of website condition.

“Which brings me to the issue of actually managing the website. I am not sure whom the writer thinks does this and if indeed if they are not doing their job if it is in the best interests of racing to replace them. This could have been cleared up with a phone call to me or Scott.

“The good news is that we have managed to secure the part-time services of a young lady to manage the existing content better than in the past but have also developed plans to improve the media hosting and content generation. This will take a few months to implement as we have to find the circa $4000 to purchase some equipment (sorry the albatross just pecked me).

“Anyhow debate is good for the soul so thank you for posting and I would just take this opportunity to thank Sheldene for all her hard work in providing this forum to enable such a debate.

“Finally, best wishes to all and hoping for a more prosperous but still fun-filled New Year “

THE ORIGINAL POST ON THIS SUBJECT – in case you missed it:

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE MASHTURF WEB PAGE?

The Mashonaland Turf Club website has been a bone of contention for some time. The complaints mainly come from racing purists who may or may not own a racehorse but like to check things out, make plans – and rely on up-to-date information in order to do so.

Sadly, the MTC web page is seldom a source of up-to-date and meaningful content – and we won’t talk about the delays in posting videos. That has been covered often enough.

The Mashonaland Turf Club chairman, Gary Carter, believes people should be able to express a valid viewpoint – and if published on social media it gives the Turf Club a forum on which to reply. Who knows, an open debate could be both pro-active and productive.

So here goes…this dropped into my mailbox today:

“Is there any reason why the Mash Turf website cannot be kept up to date? I went to look at the racing programme to see what races might be available for Bugatti Blue. The current programme goes up to 30 July this year.

“Owners invest huge amounts of money into this industry usually for poor returns. Is it asking too much that those that are responsible for aspects of disseminating information do their job timeously and efficiently? If they can’t, then maybe they should be replaced with more competent people.”

What do you think about www.mashturf.co.zw? Don’t be shy.

says THE CENTAURIAN

Each year we honour owners, trainers, horses and jockeys at award ceremonies around the world – notably the Cartier awards in London….. we even honour grooms and apprentice riders … but as far as I am aware, there is no formal recognition of the people who paint the picture of each race through their commentaries.

Commentators are largely the unsung heroes of our sport and so I hope we might consider changing this. My idea is that we should have an award called “Commentary of the Year” – each year we should all be enthralled and consumed by commentaries of the big races across Southern Africa – and these are all available to relive on YouTube.

Readers should ping into this site any commentary they particularly enjoyed and then – if you like – I will give the nod to the one I think is the best. The commentator will then be formally recognised in Zim and hopefully further afield at annual award ceremonies. And the cost? Nout.

The recognition? Plenty. Justly deserved and well worth having. We might have a “broken mic” award for the worst one too!!

Most people think the commentator must just try and remember the jockey colours and horses’ names and then try to call them home without too many cock-ups. But a true commentator is much more than that – she/he paints the picture of the course, race, horses, jockeys, owners, trainers, form and events of the day – filling every second of time on-air made available to him/her.

The “Voice of Racing” was always Peter O’Sullivan – the Irish born, Charterhouse boy who made racing live with his commentaries from 1947 to 1997 – fifty years of brilliance – and a knighthood to boot. He called home every race that mattered in the UK – on the flat or over the jumps – and 30 Arcs!

His laconic voice was clearly unique, his calling perfect and his rising pitch as the winning post closed was always timed to perfection….. and when not calling, he painted a picture of the run-up to each race to help those listening on radio. (Today, this is equally important to those of us who listen to commentaries on the Tellytrack audio link on our mobile phones).

His vocabulary and diction were slick and precise – the very epitome of a proper commentator.

He had nothing to learn from American racing – and neither should today’s commentators. As you know I hold US racing in utter contempt and it is the same with their commentators, they have nothing to offer us at all – moreover, their bad habits need to be eliminated from Southern African racing commentaries as soon as possible.

The list of annoyances is endless!

America has no such thing as a “stretch” – at best it’s about two furlongs, pitifully pathetic – the word is “straight” and evokes between three and four furlongs of ground in which the proper outcome of a race may unfold.

And what’s all this “round objects” about “the three, the six, the eight”? We have “number 3, 6 or 8” or we have the horses’ names.

The “get-go” is the off and the “paint” is the rails. More Yankee crap.

Getting the name of each horse correct is vital and should be a given – but it’s not always the case. My all-time favourite is Belle Epoque – pronounced Belly Pork by Nguni – endless paroxysms of mirth such that I never actually knew who won the races he ran in!

So looking at Southern Africa, where are we?

Well, we have had some great commentators in the past, notably, Peter Lovemore who would break out into some Shona from time to time, Robin Bruss – cool, precise and well informed and then Adrian Nydam – the man who never failed to put Borrowdale at the front and centre of his commentaries and to call each race with accuracy, colour and real flair.

For me, the very best commentator in southern Africa – by a country mile – is Nico Kristiosis. His voice is absolutely perfect, clear, authoritative and well informed – he structures each race with precision and calls with style and panache – in fact, I think he is probably one of the very best in the world.

Our local commentator, Ngoni Nguruza, has come on in leaps and bounds – but he has a long way to go. And he has done it pretty much on his own. Well done. To go to the next level, a degree of mentoring is indicated – I know just the man who will try to assist and do so for free!

Within that mentoring must be the exploitation of every second of air time that Tellytrack affords Zim racing – the future demands no silences!