International race at Marsa tomorrow

Tomorrow, the Malta Racing Club (MRC) will host the first round of races from this year’s Horse Racing Union Championship for trotters at the Marsa Racetrack.

The first race commences at 2 p.m. Besides the championship race, other family-related activities will be organised together with a show of Maltese-owned Ferrari cars.

Matthew Brincat, the MRC chairman, said the championship race forms an integral part of the annual horse racing calendar at Marsa.

“This is the fourth time that we are hosting this event,” he said.

“This gives us more exposure. In fact, in the coming months Maltese drivers will be participating abroad, most notably in Italy and France, for the next round of championship races.

“Malta won the championship in 2010 so we’re hoping for another fine showing in this year’s edition.”

Tomorrow, Malta will be represented by veteran driver Raymond Clifton, a legend in the Maltese horse racing scene having won more than 2,000 races in a career spanning more than 50 years.

Clifton originally started as a jockey in the late 1950s and won various honours most notably the Mediterranean Derby when riding 1960s racing favourite Waterloo Boy.

In the early 1970s, Clifton turned to trotting and is best remembered for his successes on the most popular of all horses, Isard Du Pont.

At present, Clifton is training a number of horses. He’s also an instructor at the Horse Racing Academy established by Kunsill Malti għall-iSport in conjunction with the Malta Racing Club.

The six countries participating in this year’s event are France, Italy, Malta, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine.