Horse racing: General Salute stuns Mr. K
Experienced jockey ,Joseph Lamptey, riding favourite horse Mr K were last Saturday stunned by arch-rival S. T. Madu, who rode General Salute to win the Division 3B event at the 2016 Ga Homowo Race Meeting held at the Accra Turf Club at Ashaley Botwe.
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Mr K, which was tipped to win, started the race about 20 yards behind his contenders due to his ranking and placement however, came from behind to overtake them, drawing loud cheers and applause from the large crowd but the joy of the spectators was short lived after Mr K lost its steam at about a furlong to finish.
General Salute , owned by Mr Godwin Corquaye finished in a time of 1.45 minutes over a distance of 1200 metres followed by Mr K and Who Is Free.
S.T. Madu told the Graphic Sports later that “I’m an experienced jockey just like Joseph Lamptey and when they told me I was competing in this division I knew the challenges so I prepared well”.
In the Maidens Division, four -year-old Dante, led almost from the start and held off a challenge by Amora (E.A. Adjetey), Good Name (M Anum), Nine Eleven (I. Adjei), Mariama (N. Pardie), Lady Secret (E. A. Dery) and Abokyi (A. Ampah) to win the race.
Participating in its first competitive race, Dante beat Amora in the final furlongs to win in an average time of 1.05 minutes over five furlongs (1000 metres).
Bonanza, ridden by J. Lamptey, shocked spectators after he took an early lead and won the Division 4B/4C race by over a length against Alvaro (Clifford Armah), Rule of Law (C. Ampah), and Young Man (E. Ampah) in the Division 4B/4C race.
This is the second time that Bonanza has defeated Alvaro over the same distance. Caregiver and trainer of Bonanza, Alhaji Abdul Kadri ,who is famously known as Alhaji Baturi, said he was aware Bonanza would carry the day due to its peaceful demeanor prior to the competition.
