By Ibrahim Muhammad Kano Nigeria’s home-bred racehorses are closing the gap on global speed standards and could soon rank among...
By Ibrahim Muhammad Kano
Nigeria’s home-bred racehorses are closing the gap on global speed standards and could soon rank among the world’s fastest, the National Coordinator of the Horse Racing Federation of Nigeria, HRFN, Mustapha Abubakar-Bida has said.
Abubakar-Bida made the declaration on Saturday at the grand finale of the Kano Derby, staged under the theme ‘Renewed Hope International Horse Racing Derby’
The HRFN boss said the performance of Nigerian-bred horses improved markedly during the competition, both in skill, speed and stamina.
“Today history has been made. Our horses that were born and bred in Nigeria are breaking records day by day,” he said.
Citing a key example, he noted: “They used to run 5 furlongs in about 1 minute, 10 seconds. In today’s final race, they did it in 1 minute flat. That is one of the highest speeds you can get in horse racing.
“So, we are moving closer to breaking a global record as far as speed is concerned. This is also putting Nigeria on the global stage. Gradually we are getting there. We will soon have horses rated among the top-speed horses in the world.”
Modernisation and inclusion
Abubakar-Bida said the federation’s adoption of a starting gate has helped with time management and raised the overall standard of racing in the country.
He also highlighted a landmark moment for gender inclusion: the staging of a novelty female jockey race.
“This is the first time in Africa you have girls racing in an international event. We are encouraging women to come into racing in line with global practice. Horse racing for women has been happening in Europe and America for over 40 years.
“Our target is for Nigeria to be the first African nation to produce female jockeys trained here, who can compete globally,” he added.
Stables dominate, history made*
The two-day derby was dominated by Speedy Stables of Bauchi and S.D Stables of Niger, which carted away the top prizes, including cars, cups and cash.
In Race 23, 5F 1000M, S.D Stables’ Abba won the President Bola Tinubu Cup. In Race 19, 10F 2000M, the same stable’s Lailatu Qadri claimed the Etsu Nupe Cup, presented by His Royal Highness Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar.
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