03 Oct 2023

Organisers of the maiden Urban Desert Polo horse race event are happy that they managed to attract over 50 gallant horses and fervent jockeys at  Lesototo Farm near Moshupa over the Independence holidays.

The event had participants from other neighbouring countries such as South Africa, Zimbabwe and Lesotho and it tested not only the speed, but agility and obedience.

However, at the end of the thrilling race, Pital from Good Hope scooped position one and won P60 000 under the Moshville grand finale Tswana breed in the 800 metres while Barbie Girl from Draaihoek also emerged victorious under the Urban Desert Polo grand finale Thoroughbred and pocketed a whooping P100 000.

In an interview Urban Polo event organiser Tumisang Setombeko said he was pleased that the horse race although held for the first time, had turned out successful.

He said they were able to conduct all that they planned but noted sponsorship and administration challenges since horse race was still at infancy in the country.

He expressed pleasure that although Moshupa was a new district, it was doing great so far having hosted seven countries which participated in the race.

He said the Urban Desert Polo was still a new organisation formed in 2018 with the aim to unite Moshupa residents and attract the rest of the world to partake in the event.

For his part, Botswana Horse Racing Association representative Timon Kelebeng commended event organisers for the job well done.

He said more still needed to be done administratively so that horse race code could be at par with their counterparts outside the country.

Kelebeng expressed challenges which included caring of Thoroughbred horses as they were expensive to maintain, adding that they were in consultation with the Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sports and Culture and Botswana National Sports Commision (BNSC) to ensure that horse racing became affiliated with BNSC.

“Our association was registered in 2018, since then we have been trying by all means to build foundation, so that Botswana can start professional horse race and for government to assist the association,” he said.

“Horse race is a billion dollar projects. Competitions such as these can diversify the economy of the country, in that horse caretakers, assistants, managers can be hired on permanent basis,” he noted.

Kelebeng said having such competitions added value to the horse owners through linkages created while at the same time it served as a source of income.

He thus appealed to private companies to assist noting that their input could go a long way in creating an enabling environment. ENDS