•Ollie Gray, one of Kenya’s top trainers, was delighted ahead of the new year’s first racing.
•The rest of the day’s mixed-distance racing is made up of more orthodox contests which will make for exciting viewing and betting for punters and patrons alike.
Image: KABIR DHANJI
The second half of the 2023/24 season gets underway this Sunday at Ngong Racecourse with the Mzee Wa Pwani race meeting.
Though the fields are small and measured ahead of a busy few months of traditionally bigger races, the weather promises to make for interesting racing.
With the Kenya Guineas and the Fillies Guineas all happening within the next month, and the Kenya Derby and the Kenya Oaks only four race meetings away, trainers, jockeys, and owners are all looking ahead strategically to try to balance the amount of running and rest to give themselves and their charges the best latitude to collect some silverware.
The Mzee Wa Pawni Trophy being run at 3:20 is the race of the day and indicative of this calculated thinking with Kenya’s biggest stars competing to feel each other out over 1400m ahead of the impending laurels.
The race favourite is the 2022/23 Horse of the Year, Saint Moritz, owned by Lady Spencer, being ridden by the 2022/23 Champion Jockey, Lesley Sercombe, who was confident but cautious about her prospects in the contest, “nothing is a done deal so it’ll be exciting.”
The rest of the day’s mixed-distance racing is made up of more orthodox contests which will make for exciting viewing and betting for punters and patrons alike.
Ollie Gray, one of Kenya’s top trainers, was delighted ahead of the new year’s first racing. “The going is perfect for racing. The track is in great condition and the weather is fantastic for racing.”
The six-card fixture is very much a meeting for bankers, as many as one could want, and perhaps only the weather can steal from the vault of what should be certain, though nothing is ever promised.
The 1000m Lazrin Maiden at 1:35 PM will pit Tronador against Leap of Faith, with the latter likely to have the edge borrowing from the experience of J Muhindi.
The second race, the 2400m Ray Warner Handicap, should comfortably be the territory of the classy Venetian Link ridden by P Kiarie, though Adleoli, ridden by Michael Fundi, could challenge and Chipping and Deon should not be entirely written off either.
The Drap D’Or Cup over 1800m at 2:45 PM is a skirmish between Sea Eagle and Bampton for honours with Coffee Break as the bankable place.
The jewel in the day’s racing schedule, the Mzee Wa Pwani, will pit General Lee and Daytime Girl against the formidable Saint Moritz.
General Lee, ridden by J Muhindi, has triumphed over longer distances, and Daytime Girl, ridden by C Kimani, likes the soft ground, but Saint Moritz holds the record over this trip and would appear unbeatable.
The Chilli Cup at 3:55 PM over 1200m has High Legislation as the favourite, reuniting the unstoppable combination of jockey Michael Fundi and trainer Tony Kuria.
The last race of the day is the 900m On a Promise Maiden for two-year-olds only that Telling Tales, trained by Joe Karari, should secure.
The end of the racing is the beginning of the sundowners and afterparty with delectable delights from Geco Tribe, Maurizio’s, Shawarma Mamma, and Need Gelato, as well as an assortment of other food and drink vendors making it an unmissable event, with music from Nairobi’s finest DJ’s playing long into the evening.