20 Apr 2022

Twenty-two months old dog, High Five, led others in the open males category to be crowned champion during Dr Dikoloti Easter dog race in Lorwana over the holidays.

High Five, who has a number of local and international titles, emerged victorious ahead of Hiroshima and Haka Matorokisi in second and third positions respectively.

The annual event, which was last held in 2019 due to COVID-19, was made up of eight categories of the under 9,12,15,18, under 18 crosses, open crosses, open females and males.

Position one, in the open females was won by Gloria, Earthquake came second and Inferno finished on position three.

In open crosses, Controller scooped position one, followed by Company while Levels got position three.

The champions from all the three categories are owned by Neo Abel Kgopolo.

Under 18 race was won by Xzibit, seconded by Magic and Ginimbi in third place.

Thandeka finished first, followed by Sawasawane and Nandi on third position in under 18 crosses.

Under 15 race was won by Jigsaw, seconded by Success and Nation in third position.

Blue Streak won under 12 race followed by Blue City Gal and Bachelor on third position. Rocksonic emerged victorious in under nine category, Harry Potter came second and Bleeding Guitar finished on third position.

Spectators came in large numbers to witness the event.

Botswana Greyhound Association (BGA) public relations officer, Mpho Mmono indicated that the event went well as per their expectations.

 “The attendance was good and we hope for more numbers next year as the event continues to grow each year,” he said.

Mmono noted that they were not able to host the event during the past two years due to COVID-19.

 However, he said the event was bigger and better than the previous one.

He highlighted that the dog race was not popular in Botswana, but had the capacity to change lot of families’ lives.

BGA PRO explained that there were a lot of job opportunities that could be created by the sport, such as taking care of dogs, mating opportunities, feed production, training of dogs as well as production of equipment used.

“The sport can meaningfully contribute to the national economy,” he said.

A lot of residents, he said, also benefitted from the event as they sell their different products during the event.

“Such people would be in a position to improve their lives with proceeds from their sales,” he said.

He said the sport was family friendly. “Families could spend time together, since most people spend most of their time on social media and had turned a blind eye at the value of spending time as families,” he lamented.

Mmono urged all dog lovers to join the association and enjoy endless benefits.

“Our children could be kept off the streets, hence decreasing social ills such as crime, alcohol and drug abuse,” he said.

He further explained that for the sport to grow, there was need for sponsors, hence his appeal to potential sponsors to get onboard.

“Both the sponsors and the association could benefit from such partnerships,” he said.

BGA PRO urged all those who did not make it to the podium, not to give up as perseverance brought success. He thanked all sponsors for the support.

For his part, the owner of three champions, Kgopolo indicated that he was happy and proud of his dogs’ performance, attributing the success to the love for his dogs and determination.

He said the win was High Five’s second in Botswana this year, having won Sebele February Sprint and had a number of medals from races in South Africa.

Kgopolo said for the dogs to perform well, owners should take good care of them and understand them, “I monitor what my dogs eat as well as their weight, even before the race I weigh them,” he said.

He shared Mmono’s sentiments that dogs could be a source of income to a lot of people, noting that there were a good number of job opportunities in the value chain.

“I have currently hired some people who look after my dogs, other people offer mating services, others sell them, while others produce feed as well as manufacturing of equipment used during races,” he said.

He urged the cooperate world to use their services, noting that the races could be used to pull people to different events. ENDS