Mediterranean Championship races at Marsa today

The Malta leg of the 2010 Horse Racing Union Championship will be held at the Marsa Racetrack today.

Twelve countries will be taking part in this year's championship races with drivers and jockeys hailing from Cyprus, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Malta, Morocco, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain and Ukraine.

The championship races, for trotting and flat categories, will be run along with other events from a Malta Racing Club programme that includes nine races in a packed afternoon.

Speaking at the launching of the races earlier this week, club chairman Matthew Brincat welcomed the visiting delegations and said the championship was an important fixture in the local calendar.

"This is an annual event not just for the horse racing enthusiasts, those who follow our competitions on a regular basis," he said.

"This is also an important date in our calendar and we expect the sporting public to support our jockey Michael Sultana and driver Francis Cassar during the races.

"We are proud to be organising such a prestigious event of the Mediterranean Horse Racing Union and we are committed to host similar international races in future as we want to strengthen our already excellent relationship with other member countries."

Sultana is the 2009 champion jockey and Cassar is a popular figure at Marsa with a career spanning back nearly 40 years.

Both have already represented the country outside our shores on various occasions.

The fifth race on the card today will be the Johnny Walker Cup and will feature eight countries. It is also the second leg of the Mediterranean Championship for jockeys.

The championship races for trotters will be the fourth and seventh in the schedule and start at 3.20 and 4.40 p.m. respectively.

Today's meeting at Marsa gets underway with a race for Copper class trotters at 2 p.m.