• Amongst a plethora of charms and irresistible qualities that racing has to offer is that it is in the rare company of a handful of outdoor sports that can endure wet weather conditions and flourish.
• According to the Kenya Meteorology Department weather forecast, there should be fair weather for racing, and a day laced with partial sunshine and warm spells.
Image: KABIR DHANJI
It’s Ladies Day at Ngong Racecourse this Sunday for the Kenya Oaks and not even the rain can slow what promises to be a spectacular day of racing and fashion.
The seven-card fixture is a melange of absorbing duels with no outright or axiomatic champions.
The history of Ladies Day at the races dates back to 1823 when an anonymous poet described a race at Ascot as “.. . when the women, like angels, look sweetly divine.”
This honoured tradition has persevered and internationally and locally and the appeal of fashion and racing continues to serve as a measure of culture, trends, and in-vogue Kenya.
Amongst a plethora of charms and irresistible qualities that racing has to offer is that it is in the rare company of a handful of outdoor sports that can endure wet weather conditions and flourish.
According to the Kenya Meteorology Department weather forecast, there should be fair conditions for racing, and a day laced with partial sunshine and warm spells.
Whilst haute couture will be an unmistakable feature of Ladies' Day, Kenya’s most experienced jockey and decorated champion, Lesley Sercombe, was optimistic and jovial ahead of the challenging conditions.
“I’m going to try to win them all. This kind of racing is best suited to mud runners. It’s going to be like it was for the Kenya Derby. You have to stay near the front, pick your ground, and then find a little pace down the straight.”
Trainer Ollie Gray, who is having a very successful season with his runners and winners, had a similar opinion of Sercombe: “It takes a lot out of them, jockey and horse, and you need them both fit. In conditions like this, a bad fit horse will beat a good unfit horse.”
Joe “horse whisperer” Karari, who’s been training horses for 17 years differed in his thinking believing that victory was a matter of fate rather than skill.
“Racing in the wet is just luck because you can never get your horse 100 per cent fit and you never know what’s going to happen. Anyone can win, and we’ve seen it many times.”
Two major considerations in wet weather conditions are that the soft ground ostensibly makes every race a longer adventure, and any extra weight being carried further adds to the burden of distance.
For the punters with a flair for artistry, both real and imagined concatenations, there are fair winnings to be forged.
The racing gets underway at 1 PM with the 1200m Cambric Cup where Pretty Pearl is preferred against the winning Coffee Break for her form and carrying less weight.
The 1600m Mickey Migdoll Mile at 1:35 pm should belong to the in form Henry Muya riding Vuvuzela Umilio.
High Legislation cannot be written off with a love of soft ground but is carrying significantly more weight.
The 2:10 pm Labour of Love Handicap over 2060m favours Henry Muya riding the one-paced Chipping who is known for staying over distance and is running 9kg lighter than the would-be-challenger, Dunleavy.
The 2060m Aga Khan Trophy at 2:45 pm should belong to Lesley Sercombe riding Beeston who likes the soft ground.
Strider is the next most liked but hasn’t raced in a year. The main race of the Day, the Kenya Oaks at 3:20 pm over 2400m has Ten Eighty as the form horse being ridden by the very experienced James Muhindi.
The main challenge will come from Cassandra being ridden by Lesley Sercombe.
The 3:55 pm Paddy Migdoll Tea Urn over 1000m is the second busiest race of the card, and it’s hard to look past the form of Rahal being ridden by the talented apprentice Michael Fundi.
Pitch, ridden by Lesley Sercombe could be the fly in the ointment, carrying significantly less weight.
The most populated race of the day is the 1200m Ladies Day Maiden with seven runners over 1200m at 4:30 pm and Lesley Sercombe, riding Trumpet Call, one of the recent big buys, is favoured to show the class to justify the spend.
The end of the racing is the beginning of the sundowners and afterparty with music from Nairobi’s finest DJs playing long into the evening making it an unmissable event.