Nur arrived in Zimbabwe in 2012, long after the major races – the Castle Tankard, the OK Grand Challenge and the Republic Cup had been held, but this time, he has been accorded the opportunity to declare Approval Rating for the OK Grand Challenge.
In fact, it could have been a Kenyan triple act had Nur brought along his favourite jockey, Patrick Mungai, but he opted for Ralton Peters, who is 18th out of 31 in the jockeys’ table standings at Borrowdale.
Nur did not relocate to Zimbabwe alone. He came along with owner David Armstrong. The two brought with them 15 horses and Approval Rating is one of them. The horse, which is OK Grand Challenge race’s 5/1 favourite, reckons Nur, should set them on the path to long lasting success.
“Approval Rating has been running a cracker. What is now left is for him to announce his arrival in Zimbabwe by winning the OK Grand Challenge,” said the trainer.
In Kenya, the 36-year-old Nur was training 24 horses for David and Sydney Armstrong and in 2012 won the biggest race in Kenyan racing, the Kenya Derby, with South African horse, Just Bluffing.
Nur has been training horses for the past six years, after Jane Prette-John offered him the chance to take up courses in stable management in the United Kingdom between 1997 and 1999. He followed this up with another course in Germany in 2000, before he ended up in New Zealand the following year. He started off working for the Mason family in 2006, where he won The St Leger race with Chilulu, a feat he repeated with another horse, Skeleton Coast.
Prior to coming to Zimbabwe, he was placed third in the trainer standings in Kenya. Having settled at Borrowdale, Nur has had around 26 races and has been placed on a number of occasions.
Post published in: Sport
He has also developed a knack for scoring goals – his club is currently one of their top goal scorers with 10 goals. He was Swallows’ third top goal scorer last season with six goals, which all came from set-pieces.