26 Sep 2016

Socialites in Maun were on Saturday treated to a horse riding courtesy of Maun independence celebration organising committee.

The event, which was meant to create hype for Botswana’s golden jubilee independence celebration, saw Tswana and Thoroughbreds competing in six categories.The categories were 800m, 1000m, 1200m, 1400m and 1600m.

Regardless of the high temperatures recorded in Maun on Saturday, jockeys pushed their horses hard to win this race which attracted close to 30 horses only from Ngamiland. The event organiser, who is also the chairperson of the newly formed Makgwobokgwobo Horse Race Club, Moeletsi Mogalakwe said Batswana loved horse racing therefore it was important for the Maun B0T50 organising committee to include this kind of event amongst activities meant to hype the independence day.

“We have decided not to include horses from other regions in this competition to make it more local,” he said in an interview. Also as the chairperson of Makgwobokgwobo Horse Race Club, Mogalakwe said he will use the competition to lure horse owners to join his newly formed club.

This he said would significantly contribute to their endeavor to make Maun horse race an annual event. Currently, Mogalakwe said Mascom Derby was the only big horse race event in Maun hence the need to bridge the gap.

However, Richard Martin who is a trainer appealed to potential sponsors to come forth and sponsor horse race competition as this will grow the sport in Botswana. “We do not have sponsors for the competition save for Mascom Derby which come once a year,” he said in an interview.

Martin also noted that preparing a horse to win this kind of races was an expensive exercise as the horse had to be fed well and treated of all diseases so that it could be fit and ready for the race all the time.

One of the horse owners which won the competition, Enele Sechube concurred that feeding and treatment were very important to maintain a good horse for race. He said it was important to do light training during hot condition as this preserves energy for the horse.

Meanwhile Sechube’s horse named Last Born from Toteng won the 1200m Tswana breed. Last Born was the favorite of the day as it also galloped to second position in the 14000m Tswana breed race.

Another horse that proved its mettle was the well-built and brazen Keynock from Maun. It surprised other jockeys as it come first from the 1400m Tswana breed race and second in 1200m race.
Kareng based horse called Dynamic Star emerged victorious in the 1000m thoroughbred and 1600m thoroughbred races.

Those who put their money on Benladen from Bodibeng were also not disappointed as it galloped to position one in the 1000m Tswana bred. ENDS