adminMandla Moyo Sports Reporter
THE country’s most prestigious horse racing competition, the Castle Tankard Grade (1) open series race set for Borrowdale racecourse, is one day away today. Expectations are very high that the 2,000m long event carrying $50,000 in stakes money will live up to its billing.Winners of this year’s edition will pocket $30,000 while the other placed runners will collect $10,000, $6,000 and $3,000 respectively.
A star-studded field of 15 runners will lock horns.
Stables from all corners of the country and a travelling contingent from South Africa are going through their final paces in preparation for the big one tomorrow, a gigantic task by any stretch of imagination.
The Tankard race is not only the oldest horse racing competition in the land today, but it is also the richest trophy on the calendar.
For that reason a lot of bragging rights go along winning it. All participating stables will be out for the kill in their quest to engrave their names in the history books.
Fans will obviously follow with keen interest Glorious Jet to see how he is going to fare come race day. This is the highest rated runner in the competition and that alone comes with a lot of expectations. Glorious Jet is rated highly at 99.
Yer-maan, rated 98 and trained by St John Gray is the second best horse according to the ratings table.
However, the fact that this horse is racing for the first time this year in Zimbabwe is but a cause for concern for its trainer and followers of the sport.
Anchoring the ratings log is All the Bids from the yard of Corne Spies. All the Bids is rated 62.
Other horses that have been given the thumbs up signal to take part in this competition are Equina, Lucky Sam, Gentle Brook, Killa Man, Menacing, Norgay, Rock The Country, Super Trouper, Thriller In Manila, Two Gun Kid, Mighty Sha and Warcraft.
A combined total of nine trainers domiciled in Zimbabwe and outside will be represented during this 53rd edition of the Castle Tankard, an open series competition.
According to the racing manager, Betina Gurajena, everything is now in place for the race.
“Everything is now in place for the big race on Saturday. The last stage was the printing of the race card which we have just done successfully”, said Gurajena
In 2014 the Castle Tankard race was won by Equina from the stable of Amy Bronkhorst. Equina also went on to win the OK Grand Challenge that same year and joined an elite league of a few runners who won the two races during the same year.
Castle Tankard (Grade 1) Race Stakes: $50,000 (2,000m)
All The Bids Corne Spies 62
Equina Amy Bronkhorst 92
Gentle Brook Amy Bronkhorst 84
Glorious Jet Gokhan Terzi 99
Killa Man (ZIM) Bridget Stidolp 78
Lucky Sam Bridget Stidolp 95
Menacing Bridget Stidolp 81
Mighty Sha (ZIM) Kirk Swanson 67
Norgay St John Gray 85
Rock The Country Gokhan Terzi 83
Super Trouper Gokhan Terzi 89
Thriller In Manila Amy Bronkhorst 80
Two GunN Kid D’Aquino S L 89
Warcraft Alyson Wright 81
Yer-Maan St John Gray 98
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