•The racing gets underway at 12:55 PM with the Icarus Handicap over 1600m, where Lucia Poppova ridden by J Muhindi is the favourite after having had such a dominant outing the last time she ran.
•The weather doesn’t affect the crowds, so they have and continue to pack the stands in all of their splendour and colour to enjoy an exciting day of racing, music, and entertainment, that has become the pulse of Nairobi’s Sunday vibe.
Image: KABIR DHANJI
Racing happens, almost no matter what the weather is, and so, regardless of what it is on any given Sunday in Nairobi, there’s racing.
On Sunday, the forecast promises a grey day speckled with sunshine, so there’s racing. And because there’s racing, there’ll be crowds.
In what has now become a main feature and fixture of horse racing, Nairobi’s finest and most popular pop-up market is at the races, featuring the finest ales from 254 Brewing, and delectable delights from Geco Tribe, Maurizio’s, Need Gelato, and Lekker, as well as an assortment of other food and drink vendors making it an unmissable event.
The weather doesn’t affect the crowds, so they have and continue to pack the stands in all of their splendour and colour to enjoy an exciting day of racing, music, and entertainment, that has become the pulse of Nairobi’s Sunday vibe.
“The trainers and jockeys just want to race. It doesn’t happen that we race often in the rain like in other parts of the world. And the people, the crowds, they’re all there no matter what and so it’s great,” said trainer Ollie Gray.
With the bountiful rains across Kenya, the track is good -soft, but if there are any big storms between now and then, before races, it could make for a soft track, which will make for challenging but exciting racing and favour the fittest horses.
Although there are no particularly long races, and the card is made up of largely middle-distance running, the wet conditions essentially make the going longer because of the heavy earth.
The racing gets underway at 12:55 PM with the Icarus Handicap over 1600m, where Lucia Poppova ridden by J Muhindi is the favourite after having had such a dominant outing the last time she ran.
Dunleavy, with C Kimani, is an outside chance running significantly lighter than the rest of the field.
The 1400m Call me Fuego Maiden is being run at 1:30 pm and once again jockey James Muhindi is the favoured choice on Tronador, though Joanna, ridden by 2022/23 champion jockey Lesley Sercombe is also a contender given the softer conditions which may suit her better.
Leap of Faith is a complete unknown and could be the surprise contender as have many first-time runners this season. The Storm at Sea handicap is the second of the three 1400m races and is a contest of three-year-olds with huge potential who have something to prove.
Cassandra, ridden by R Wako, will claim five kilos, so is fractionally preferred ahead of Whispers with the current season leading jockey, C Kimani.
The Thomas/Diana Delamere Trophy is another close fixture, where Carlisle is the form horse but Arlington could be the one to catch the field unaware, and crowd favourite, The Gambler, has something to prove having fallen away since last season.
The 3:15 PM Harry Deakin Memorial Bowl is a 1000m sprint where Daytime Girl is easily the nap of the day, though High Legislation, who has nearly broken a course record, and has the magical pairing of trainer Tony Kuria and jockey Michael Fundi, could make for the closest and quickest head-to-head of the day.
The six-race card finishes with The Ocean Spirit Handicap at 3:55 PM, a 1200m dash with Russian Wonder looking stately, and for the brave and the betting, Camberley cannot be ignored.