William Buick represents Denmark
The curtain comes down on the 2012/2013 Mauritius racing season with the Sun Resorts International Jockeys’ Weekend being held on Saturday and Sunday. A tough financial outlook at the start of the season had originally threatened the longstanding tradition.
A press conference was held on Tuesday, 19 November, to provide more details about the spectacular two-day event organised by the Mauritius Turf Club at the Champ de Mars Racecourse, as well as the 2013 Equidors, the annual racing awards gala dinner to be held on 27 November.
Mr Gilbert Merven, President of the Mauritius Turf Club, chaired the press conference, together with Mr Karl Mootoosamy, Chairman of the Mauritius Tourist Promotion Authority, Mr Oomar Ramtoola, Emirates Manager for the Indian Ocean islands, Mr Bryan Foo Kune, Managing Director of Play On Line/Bet On Line, and Mr Bruce Richard Hough, Specialised Projects Manager at Emtel.
Given the tough financial outlook the Club faced this year, the International Jockeys’ Weekend (IJWE) was originally not slated into the 2013 racing calendar, said Mr Merven, but with the significant upturn enjoyed in the course of the year, a decision was made to reinstate it. Mr Merven paid compliments to the hard work put on by the Club’s Communications Department, notably its Manager, Mr Shan Ip, and its Marketing Manager, Miss Joanne Tour, without whom, he said, the IJWE 2013 would not have materialised.
The jockeys riding at this year’s renewal are: Ahmed Ajtebi (United Arab Emirates), Olivier Peslier (France), Kevin Manning (Ireland), Cristian Demuro (Italy), Yusuke Fujioka (Japan), William Buick (Denmark), Nash Rawiller (Australia), Sandesh Akhade (India), James Doyle (Great Britain), as well as the 2013 Mauritian champion jockey, a title which is yet to be settled between Rye Joorawon and Nooresh Juglall, and the 2013 Mauritius champion jockey and his runner-up, most likely, Robbie Burke (Ireland) and Johnny Geroudis (South Africa).
The 12 jockeys will be split into four teams which will be sponsored by Phoenix Beverages, Emtel, Bet On Line and Global Sports. The rides and team members will be allocated through a draw.
Mr Merven was also pleased to announce that a race for the FEGENTRI league of amateur lady riders will again be included in the two-day programme. This year, the championship race is going down to the wire between Italy’s Jessica Marcialis and France’s Barbara Guenet.
To give the event an even wider reach on the world stage, two races will be telecast live in no fewer than 64 countries, with wagering offered on those two races by PMU in France.
Another media boost worthy of note is a special TV programme featuring our top Hong Kong-based Mauritian jockey Karis Teetan, and which will be telecast on the MBC sport channel on Thursday, 28 November. Mr Ramtoola said Emirates was honoured to be chosen for the first time as the “airline partner” for one of Mauritius’ main events on its racing calendar. He mentioned that the sponsorship was in line with other prestigious horse racing events around the world that Emirates has lent its name to, such as the Dubai World Cup, the Melbourne Cup and the Singapore Derby.
Mr Foo Kune announced that the two-day event will be shown live on the Play On Line/Bet On Line website in collaboration with the Mauritius Turf Club broadcasting team.
Emtel has also teamed up with the Mauritius Turf Club broadcasting team to launch a mobile application at the Long Beach Hotel on the Equidors gala night during which 22 awards will be handed out.
