The Sunday News
Mandla Moyo
All roads lead to the home of horse racing Borrowdale Park this afternoon for the 2016 Independence Trophy race, the 4th leg Open Series for three-year-olds and above.
The race is on at 3pm.
Horse racing enthusiasts will definitely be served a scrumptious meal when 13 battle hardened horses and an equal number of jockeys jump into the trenches to defend their stable colours over a 1 600m long task.
At the end of this demanding task penciled in as Race 6 on the card the best connection will walk away $4 800 richer.
The next three teams to cross the line will each line up their saddle bags to collect $1 600, $1 000 and $600 respectively.
Leading the pack is Glorious Jet from the stable of Gokhan Terzi which is rated 99. Glorious Jet, once based in South Africa comes along with a decent record of five wins, 24 place finishes from 46 runs.
When the going gets tough this runner will turn to jockey Juan Paul VD Merwe for instructions.
However, whatever the drama this afternoon, Glorious Jet will definitely be up there with the leading pack!
In lane 10 is Approval Rating which has a merit rating of 96. Jockey Calvin Ngcobo will take charge of the reins.
This bay gelding has done the honours 10 times at the Borrowdale ring from a total of 36 runs, placing 15 times in the process.
Unfortunately in his last five races Approval Rating did not go beyond 1 450m, for that reason against this marauding field he might struggle during the final third.
Euraklion (95) also from the yard of Gokhan Terzi will be directed by jockey Lance Pagel. This runner has managed to record six wins, nine place finishes from a total of 24 runs.
It is interesting to note that all the top three birds in this final list are from the stable of trainer Gokhan Terzi.
The defending Champion Lucky Sam (91) is also in the running for the big one this afternoon.
Lucky Sam and top jockey Karl Zechner will fire their volleys from lane 13. This chestnut gelding is a winner 6 times, placed five times from a total of 17 races.
Can this runner do it twice in a row after taking it away in 2015 when all had written him out? Let’s wait for the stall gates to open!
Lane four will house Equina trained by Amy Bronkhorst and ridden by jockey Chase Maujean.
In a big race like this one you cannot rule her out.
Equina one of Borrwdale Park best performers over the years always reserves her best for the big ones therefore punters need to keep track of her. From 34 runs she is a winner 12 times and a runner up 8 times.
Other runners to keep an eye on are Lava Flow rated 83, Print The Pounds (88), Atso’s Scheme (90), Call Me Earl (85), Picalilly (89), Gentle Brook (77) and Eversolucky (82).
A total of 81 horses will compete in all the seven events set for the day, the first race is on at 12:05pm.
