Battle hots up at Ngong Racecourse as season heads toward the end

The horse racing season moves to the spicy end this Sunday at the Ngong Racecourse with a number of venerated prizes up for grabs.

Only a trinity of meetings are available to secure the honours.

The main battle turns to the jockeys, between the vastly experienced Lesley Sercombe ­— who leads the championship with 23 wins — and the equally accomplished James Muhindi, with 19 wins.

While Sercombe enjoys an appreciably greater quota of first places, with a 55 per cent success rate per ride, statistically, Muhindi, who only translates 26.5 per cent of his rides into wins, is more consistent with second and third-place finishes — which allows him more opportunities to convert and challenge.

The crowds, adorned in their finest fashion and trimmings, are expected to be voluminous to witness this head-to-head battle across no less than five races, colouring the tussle at Nairobi’s vogue couture venue.

As far as the day’s racing is concerned, trainer Ollie Gray said that: “It’s small but extremely competitive fields and there’s been a bit of rain so track conditions should be good. It’s great to see the big and diverse crowds and it’s great for racing.”

The running gets underway at 12:55 pm with the 1200m Bosphorus Handicap in a field with a lot of horses who have not run in a while so it should make for an interesting scene.

Russian Wonder has the up-and-coming R Wako claiming five kilos and is the easy favourite based on what is known.

The second race is the 1400m Nakuru Championship Stakes which has historically been a pointer to the Kenya Derby, with all the horses bing past winners, so anything is possible.

The Gambler has done nothing wrong and is the in-form horse, making her the favourite, though running 1600m and coming around the bend is always a different race.

The Mineiro Handicap is the third race of the day at 2:05 pm over a distance of 1600m and it’s hard to split Easterly and Wimborne, but the former has a slight edge.

The fourth race of the day at 2:40 pm, the 1600m Abbra Maiden, is the best and fullest race of the day with seven runners and Cassandra is the choice pick with Carlisle a jewel not to be discarded.

For the dreamers and believers, Jamaican Rum is the horse to make fortunes and Eton Star is the dark horse to upset all predictions.

The 3:15 pm Thomas Dewar Trophy is set to be the fastest race of the day over 1600m with Westwind the slight favourite ahead of the much-favoured Century Fox, but both Deodoro and All Over Again are capable to upset.

The sixth race, the lengthy Gooch Cup over 2800m should be easy hunting for the pedigree of Scott, but It’s A Date has won the Oaks in seasons past, and Chadwick has a point to prove and come good on what everyone believes.

The final race is the Paddy Migdoll Tea Urn, a 1000m sprint where Ripon, currently enjoying through a purple patch, should trump the field, but Twyford has some magic and Camberley could prove to be a villain and live up to more promise.

The event around the racing has grown significantly is now home to Nairobi’s best Sunday pop-up market. Local favourite Geco Café are making their debut at the races beside the award-winning 254 Brewing, the delectable Maurizio’s, the irresistible Fabio’s Pizza, and the delicious rations of Lekker, who make up the core of the epicurean selection and which now includes Nairobi’s best shawarma from Shawarma Mama and the unmissable Go Grab Vietnamese.