The next horse-racing meeting will be held at the Marsa racetrack next Sunday, with an 11-race card starting at 1.30pm.

The meeting consists of trot races over a 2,140m distance. With Premier class trotters resting in anticipation of next week’s Tazza l-Kbira heats, the Gold class takes centre stage with no less than 3 races.

The first sees numerous horses coming from good performances, some being promoted from the Silver class, such as Orphee Kadesh, Notice As, Pirate d’Urzy and others, together with two French and one Swedish newcomers.

The second race also includes various well-known horses currently showing good form, including Le Bon Mayennais, Nicos de Peneme, Victory Toll, Hulot and others.

Apart from newcomers from Norway and Sweden, the last Gold race includes many trotters aspiring for promotion to the Premier class. Horses like Lover Boy Index, Podium and L’As de Sueilly were recently in the Premier class whilst others recently provided strong performances, including Ouragan d’Any, Vasterbo Hitchiker, Frasse Filiokus and Touch The Diamond.

The races for the Silver, Bronze and Copper classes are also extremely balanced. Even these horses have been providing some fast times, beautiful finishes and interesting newcomers.

And this week horse-racing will provide a touch of glamour, with the first edition of the Malta Horse Racing Awards tomorrow evening at the New Dolmen Hotel. It will be a special evening honouring last season’s top performers; a worthwhile initiative continuing to raise the profile of this popular sport.