• The first race of the day, the JM Kariuki Maiden at 1:30 pm over 2060m, is also the longest race of the meeting, and it’s hard to see anyone beating Jamaican Rum ridden by 2023/24 champion jockey, Lesley Sercombe.
Image: KABIR DHANJI
The fifth fixture of the 2023/24 racing season takes place on Sunday at the Ngong Racecourse. The weather forecast promises sunshine for the patrons and good racing conditions for the 28 runners across the six-race card.
With the rains appearing to have taken a brief hiatus and the weekend likely to be bathed in sunshine, it is expected that vast and fashionable crowds will populate the races, enjoying what is arguably the most vogue horse racing on the continent, combined with a carnival of music and entertainment and the finest and most popular pop-up market in a scene that is now the hallmark of Nairobi’s Sunday vibe.
Gabu Fords, Kenya’s top male model and a regular at the races, says: “It’s amazing. It’s now the only Sunday plan I make. It’s chill and I love it. The crowd is awesome, and the racing is fantastic.”
With festivities off the track well accounted for, matters on the turf are equally compelling with the sunshine having dried the track enough to move it away from being soft, which will once again make for exciting racing with a few surprises and a few shillings for the punters.
The first race of the day, the JM Kariuki Maiden at 1:30 pm over 2060m, is also the longest race of the meeting, and it’s hard to see anyone beating Jamaican Rum ridden by 2023/24 champion jockey, Lesley Sercombe.
The D Sugden Handicap, the busiest race of the day with six runners over 1800m has Vuvuzela Umilio as the form favourite, but the talents of Lucia Popova should not be discounted, and neither should the out-of-form Easterly who is running light and could be competitive.
The 2:40 pm P. Hennessy Handicap over 1400m should see Venetian Link take laurels, though Bedford, ridden by Michael Fundi and trained by Tony Kuria, is capable of anything and find ways to win, and will have 3kg over the rest of the field, which could be the difference.
The fourth race, the V Salle Handicap, again over 1400m is perhaps the toughest to predict, but Cassandra is the class nag. Ten Eighty ridden by veteran champion, James Muhindi, could cause some problems, and so could the very out-of-form Chipping, both of whom have seven kilos on their compatriots.
The 1200m J.B. Wanjui Handicap at 3:55 pm takes things into the afternoon sprints and Sea Eagle ridden, by Henry Muya, has all the class required to make this his, but Marlow and Camberley could make things interesting.
The final race of the day, the 1200m Stewards; Handicap Cup at 4:30 pm, should see crowd favourite, The Gambler, carry the honours, and for the punters, the out-of-form Pitch has everything to prove and could be a goldmine.
The end of the races is by no means the end of the day with sundowners and an afterparty following the fixture with the finest ales from 254 Brewing, and delectable delights from Geco Tribe, Maurizio’s, Fabio’s Pizza, Need Gelato, and Lekker, as well as an assortment of other food and drink vendors making it an unmissable event.