Eventful 2004 season resumes at Marsa racetrack

The 2004 season resumes this evening with a meeting during which there will be the participation of both established trotters and new ones imported over the past weeks.

So far, the season has been a successful one not only for the Malta Racing Club (MRC) but also to others involved in the sport, namely, owners, drivers and trainers.

This season will be remembered for two international competitions at the racetrack, both fundamental for the club to strengthen its links abroad.

On February 20, in collaboration with the Swedish trotting magazine Trav Ronden, the MRC held the Malta-Sweden Encounter Races.

After weeks of preparation, a number of Maltese drivers competed against six professional Swedish counterparts in an event sponsored not only by Trav Ronden but also by the directors of the Swedish racetracks at Aby, Axevalla, Orebro, Halmstad and Mantorp. The administrators of betting site ATG and the company Krafft were involved as well.

The Malta Tourism Authority also gave its contribution. Over 300 racing enthusiasts from Sweden were at Marsa for the Encounter Races. This confirms the importance of equestrian even in the field of sport tourism.

Meanwhile, the six Swedish pros, Stig H. Johansson, Torbjorn Jansson, Ake Svanstedt, Claes Svensson, Bjorn Goop and Fredrik B. Larsson, won the 'encounter' 273-198.

The races of the championship, on a short distance of 2,140m, were won by Djinn Marcos Milo (Charles Camilleri, Class C), Real King (Claes Svensson, Class B), Lilly Ru (Stig H. Johansson, Class A), Stradivaro (Fredrik B. Larsson, Class D) and Huit Mars (Torbjorn Jansson, Class A1).

The Encounter Races were held only a few days after the MRC had finalised a new agreement with French Trotting Association, SECF, to organise a series of championships for French horses in different classes for the second year in a row.

SECF officials Dominik de Bellaigue, Jacques Chartier and Guillaume Maupas showed great enthusiasm and said the next championship will have a global sponsorship of Lm12,000.

The first series of the SECF Championships were held this summer on a long distance of 2,640m.

The main event, the final for Classes A1, A and B, was held on July 16 and was won by outsider Gary d'Hautmoniere (Charles Camilleri) which triumphed easily ahead of favourite Hermes d'Haufor (Frencu Cassar), Galassius (Charles Degiorgio) and Gatsby de la Motte (Charles Clifton).

Present for the occasion were SECF's Guillaume Maupas and Benoit Fabrega who seemed very satisfied not only with the organisation of the championships but also with the hundreds of spectators who flocked to the racetrack for the occasion.

The winners in the other SECF championships were Gagneur du Brillon (Noel Baldacchino), Fou d'Amour (George Schembri), Diatka de Pitz (Patrick Cachia), Gazar Club (Frencu Cassar) and Fier de la Tour (Charles Camilleri).

The second series of the SECF Championships will be organised in the coming weeks.

President's Cup

Another important event this year was the President's Cup final on March 28 for Class A1 trotters.

This time Huit Mars (Michael Seychell) won the honours. The MRC organised the President's Cup in conjunction with the MOC.

Huit Mars, along with Horis de Beval and Hermes d'Haufour, are considered to be three most outstanding horses imported during the past months.

As can be noted the MRC Council, under the chairmanship of George Fenech and secretary general Anthony De Bono, is working hard to give local equestrian sport better status here and abroad.

With the continuation of the 2004 season, local enthusiasts will now have a chance to observe newly-imported horses competing in a number of other important championships. The 2004 season ends in mid-December.