RSTC CHRISTMAS CUP RACES

ROYAL Sabah Turf Club (RSTC) will be holding three special cup races offering a total stake money of RM38,500 during this coming Christmas weekend.

The main highlight would be the Christmas Cup race for Class 2 over 1,800m scheduled for Sunday (Dec 26) offering a total stake money of RM16,500.

On the same day, RSTC is holding its inaugural Thoroughbred Cup meet since it shift operation to the Tambalang Race Course in Tuaran about a year ago is also scheduled to be run over 1,200m for a total RM14,000 in stake money.

RSTC Information Chief cum Treasurer, Aven Lim announced this in a statement issued here today.

On Dec 25, there would be a Cup Race for Class 7 Div 3 over 1,800m, he added

For the Thoroughbred Cup, it is expected to be an exciting race after the pre-cup introduction race which was held last month where only seven horses managed to race due to heavy scratching.

“Many of the owners pull out in the last minute as they were worried that their horses were not well prepared but come this Christmas, we believe they are well prepared,” he said.

He nonetheless was glad to note that the turnout during the pre-cup race was rather encouraging, adding that the total no winner pool accumulated four-forecast for three (3) races were RM75,000 was also won on that race.

“We in the Management Committee wish to express our appreciation to the crowd for their continuing support to the Club,” he said.

Lim also noted that the Management Committee advised owners to prepare their ponies and horses well for this coming event.

He was also delighted to note that a lot of stable owners are now interested in thoroughbred racing and are in the midst of making an attempt to import thoroughbred horses from West Malaysia.

“The Club knows a lot of horses are coming in but taking care of these thoroughbreds is not like taking care of the kampung ponies or the half breed. First they have to be quarantined upon entering the state by the veterinary department. Furthermore they need be groomed to adapt to the weather and surroundings,” he explained.

“The thoroughbreds are just like sports car ... they have to be well tuned and they are two to three times faster than ponies,” he added.

However, Lim said the Management Committee is willing to consider handicapping thoroughbred race once every month if there is enough entries.

The enthusiasm shown by the owners to get horses and the fact that after moving to Tambalang there had been a tremendous growth in the number of ponies and horse owners, members as well as punters is a motivation for the Management Committee to work even harder to improve the club and makes racing even more challenging, he said.

For this Christmas, he said the Cup races are expected to bring in big payouts, especially for the Thoroughbred Cup where an upset result would see punters going home satisfied.

As usual, he said the Management Committee would also be handing out lucky draw prizes to the punters during the Christmas Cup.

“The punters are advise to come in early,” he urged.