The Big Three finally arrive

Mandla Moyo

THE running of the Castle Tankard 2 000m horse race on 11 May at Borrowdale Racecourse marks the arrival of the big three races on the domestic calendar.

As part of preparations for this year’s edition of the prestigious event the local custodians of the sport Mashonaland Turf Club have pushed out a provisional list of eighteen runners to battle for all the available slots.

This list is made up of top class long distance runners who when firing on all cylinders have the pedigree to set the race course on fire as they stride down the turf towards the finishing post. Among this field are candidates who have already made a mark before, not just once but several times at this venue as well as visiting horses from outside the country from South Africa.

From this list of established horses who are previous winners in their own right are Simona, Twilight Trip, Peggson, Amsterdam, Solinki to name but a few. At the time of writing Mash Turf Club were busy conducting the final acceptance stage which will then be followed quickly by compiling and pushing out of the race card which is expected to be pushed out before Wednesday.

There is $100 000 as declared stake money for sharing among the winner and there are three runners to cross the line. Once the final fields are out punters need to keep an eye on trainers whose horses have performed exceptionally in such distances. This applies to visiting jockeys as well as equines from across the border considering the amounts involved in flying a horse to this part of the country.

For that reason among other, no trainer is prepared to go through such on an ordinary runner.

However, when all is said and done once the gates are pushed open any runner can take it away.

Borrowdale Park 2019 Nominations for Castle Tankard Grade (1) Race RTGS$ 100,000 2000m.

Amsterdam Kirk Swanson 90

Arte Kirk Swanson 78

Bush pilot Bridget Stidolph 81

Coachella Bridget Stidolph 103

Fareeq (aus) Penny Fisher 86

Heir line Kirk Swanson 92

Knuckleball Penny Fisher 89

Leven point Bridget Stidolph 72

Master ‘n commande Penny Fisher 82