The 42nd meeting of the season at Marsa yesterday was made up of eight races. The two major events were a race for Premier trotters and a flat race on 1,750m.

Fifteen horses lined up for the start of the Premier race.

Candy Fantasy (Melvin Farrugia) was the fastest trotter in the early stages.

This Swedish seven-year-old led all the way and ran untroubled to finish first ahead of Knockout Molar (Charles Camilleri), Oscar de la Vallee (Sammy Micallef) and Gentle Way (Eric Bezzina) in that order.

Candy Fantasy secured its first win of the year in an average time of 1.16.7” per kilometre.

In the flat race, it was Timolin (Ramon Grima) that took the early initiative. During the first 400m, this German horse opened a half-length’s lead from Docklands Brian, ridden by Italian Antonio Pappalardo, and Cheeky Jack (Charles Vella).

Midway through the final straight, Timolin started to slow its pace and was soon overtaken by Cheeky Jack which obtained its third win in a row. Wildnis (Demis Zammit) was third ahead of Buttermilk (Eric Zammit).

The card also included two races for Gold class trotters.

In the first of the afternoon, No Comprendo (Andrew Farrugia) upped its pace from the outside 600m from the finish to beat Hulot (Jason Vassallo) to the post.

There was a close finish in the second Gold race when Newman (Kevin Sciberras) and Ygor of Pass (Tony Demanuele) sprinted neck-and-neck in the final straight.

The win was eventually awarded to Ygor of Pass after the photo-finish was consulted.

In a race for Silver trotters, German horse Socrates, under the guidance of veteran John Briffa, had to go all the way in the last few metres to claim its second win of the year from Kapro Wareco (Mario Fenech).

Another programme of racing at Marsa will be held on Friday.

The winners
Race 1: Copper, Esmeralda Run (Redent Magro) – 1.18.1.
Race 2: Bronze, Donna Giant (Herman McKay) – 1.18.3.
Race 3: Bronze, Law Suit (Noel Baldachcino) – 1.17.7.
Race 4: Flat, Cheeky Jack (Charles Vella) – 1.47.8.
Race 5: Gold, No Comprendo (Andrew Farrugia) – 1.17.
Race 6: Gold, Ygor of Pass (Tony Demanuele) – 1.16.4.
Race 7: Premier, Candy Fantasy (Melvin Farrugia) – 1.16.7.
Race 8: Silver, Socrates (John Briffa) – 1.16.4.

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