Okahandja awaits Standard Bank’s Kaondeka horse racing showdown

The annual Kaondeka horse racing battle, under the sponsorship of Standard Bank Namibia, is taking place o Saturday at the Okahandja Turf Club.

Standard Bank and Kaondeka Horse Racing Club inked a three-year sponsorship agreement worth N.dollars 600 000 for the Kaondeka annual racing challenge two years ago.

Event coordinator Grace Pujatura told Nampa on Thursday that Standard Bank’s sponsorship has reached its cessation period and there are discussions on a contract renewal, which, if agreed upon, will increase the prize money.

‘This is our final event under our current deal with Standard Bank. However, we are in talks to renew the relationship with Standard Bank to up participation monies,’ stated Pujatura.

She also stated that N.dollars 200 000 has been set aside for the top performing horses, with 15 plates with over 90 horses set to compete in the Nambred beginner, Nambred maiden, Nambred graduation, D-division, and A-division thoroughbred divisions for Saturday’s showdown.

She also added that Ka
ondeka’s horse racing events have been a crowd-puller throughout the years, with attendance exceeding expectations.

‘Our event attendance is always above par, during the COVID-19 pandemic we were a bit affected, but now we have picked up and at most of the events we have a crowd of more than 5 000 spectators,’ she said.

According to Pujatura, the typical top horses are likely to compete in the last race of the day, with popular contenders like Starlile from the Okahandja Horse Racing Club ready to exploit their home-ground advantage to continue its undefeated streak.

Starlile will have stiff competition on the domestic circuit, including French Leave from Aminuis Racing, You Touched My Heart from Riverside Racing, Time Master from Khomas Turf Club, Visigoth from Aminuis Racing, and Kaondeka from the Kaondeka Horseracing Supporters group.

The entry fee is N.dollars 50 for the event set to start at 10h30.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency