Unlike in Zimbabwe where there is only one course in the form of Borrowdale where racing comes only once in a fortnight, there are more than five courses in South Africa where horse racing is held every week running from Friday to Sunday and at times on Wednesdays.
The departure of Alyson constitutes a grievous blow on Zimbabwean horse racing as she had become a leading figure at Borrowdale, throwing in winners and making the competition among the trainers very exciting.
Although initially it was thought to be at a short stint, Alyson has decided to stay. She has, however, not forgotten home for good as she on some occasions decides to send some of her horses to race at Borrowdale from her stable in South Africa.
Her South African horse, A King Is Born, was the winner of the $50, 000 Castle Tankard and followed this up with another good run in the $40, 000 OK Grand Challenge in which he finished third. In the process the horse gave his handlers $34, 800 in stake money over two events.
Since the start of the Zimbabwean racing season on August 1 last year, Alyson has in 90 starts sent out 14 winners. She has also finished second on seven occasions as well as seven third place finishes. She has had the accolade of finishing fourth on 10 occasions.
On the premise of those statistics, Alyson is sixth on the Zimbabwe trainers' list, just above Dave Willey, Nuno Nur, Gavin McLeod, Pelling and Kumaran Naidoo.
Topping the trainers list is reigning champion Lisa Harris followed by Kirk Swanson, Gokhan Terzi, Gail Odendaal, and Sebastien D'Aquino
Post published in: Sport