This year's Mediterranean Derby for flat horses will be held at the Marsa racetrack on Sunday. The race will be run on a distance of 1,750 metres.

During the last years, the prestigious derby has again started to form part of the local racing calendar thanks to the intervention of the Malta Racing Club Council, under the leadership of chairman George Fenech and secretary Anthony De Bono, and the newly-formed Malta Flat Racing Club, led by Joe Caruana.

As a race, the Mediterranean Derby was organised for the first time during the British Empire and many local enthusiasts still believe that the race took the place of another competition, the Malta Grand National Steeple Chase, which was first held way back in 1868 after the formation of the Malta Racing Club.

But there are other features that make the Mediterranean Derby a special event. The trophy representing the competition is gigantic, made of silver and depicts St George slaying the dragon.

No one knows exactly the origins of this trophy but in the 1960s and 70s there was always the belief that the trophy was produced in India and it was Lord Mountbatten (whose name was synonymous with polo) who brought the trophy with him from that country.

In the 1980s, the finalists in the derby used to be driven by foreign jockeys, particularly women. They used to visit our country specifically to participate in the derby.

A lot of people still remember horses like Mickle Fell and Naughty But Nice which for a number of years were the protagonists of this competition.

In the mid-1990s the organisation of the derby was in crisis as a result of a lack of flat horses, a situation which was making it impossible for the council to hold the event.

In contrast, today, the Mediterranean Derby is being used as a stimulus to encourage more owners to buy new horses from different countries like England, Ireland and France.

On Sunday, the favourite should again be Managing Director, driven by Gozitan Omar Cauchi.