The Sunday News
Mandla Moyo, Sports Reporter
NEW horse trainers are set to grace Borrowdale Racecourse during the 2019/20 racing season which is expected to resume in September.
The trainers were recently granted licences to start campaigning for the honours in the domestic scene.
The two are set to complement the number of trainers who have thrown in the towel for various reasons over the years namely Lisa Harris as well as Penny Fisher to name but a few. According to the racing manager Betina Gurajena, the two trainers are Thomas Mason as well as Venessa Birktos.
While Mason will be standing alone, his yard going by the name Tomcat in his quest to engrave his name in the history books of horse racing Birktos will twin up with seasoned trainer Gokhan Terzi.
To date, there are two male trainers at Borrowdale, that is Terzi as well as Kirk Swanson surrounded by a number of lady trainers who have given their male counterparts a headache on the course.
Interestingly the man has been dominant over longer distances while horses trained by their family counterparts have proved to be a handful over shorter distances.
“As a horse trainer to join others in a fight for the honours is a challenge as well as it is something that is exciting as that will also make the game more exciting, we need more trainers in the game so that it becomes competitive and exciting.
When asked about his expectations for the coming season Mason said since he is still new and still has a lot to learn.
“I am starting out as a new trainer, I have small strength so my aim is to expand my strength and then later go for the awards,” he added.
Mason has been involved in horse training since 1996 shuttling in between Zimbabwe as well as South Africa where he stayed for eight months.
As part of his preferences Mason who has worked for a number of years under veteran trainer Kirk Swanson said he prefers condition horse for medium to long distances.
In addition to that alongside his mentor they will team up every fortnight to give the ladies a run for their money.
@mandlamoyo3
