My maiden Mascom Derby trip

Sharon Mathala | Thursday March 31, 2016 10:48

 

The excitement was already festering a week towards the horse racing event. Notably, there were also other major events held in Maun over the Easter holidays. There was the Togetherness festival, which is currently touring the country; another event featuring South Africa’s Arthur Mafokate and African Roots, but it was the annual Mascom derby horse race that was the talk of the Batawana land.

By late Friday, the malls were busy with would-be attendants getting ready for the big day. Scores of revellers had flocked the busy mall centre mostly looking for outfits for the event; the cowboy look was seemingly the preferred fashion.

By Saturday afternoon, traffic to the Shashe horse tracks was already mounting.

By midday, motorists traffic literally came to a standstill. Actiually, authorities did confirm to Showtime that this year pulled the biggest crowd.

Whilst still stuck in traffic, I mentally pictures what it was could be like inside the venue. As a first timer, I conjured up images in my mind, most of which was motivated by what I saw on TV for similar events.

Finally, arriving at the venue, reality hit: the set up was not as fancy as I had envisioned.

The horse tracks were not as fancy as I had hoped. I walked down to the VIP marquee very disappointed. I began to believe I had been sold a dummy or maybe I expected too much from the 10-year-old event.

I finally settled down and the riders were getting ready for the next race.

I was quickly distracted by the presence of the Minister of youth Sports and Culture, Thapelo Olopeng.

Olopeng had visited Maun to officiate a handover ceremony where veteran athlete Amantle Montsho was to receive cattle from Maun farmers.

At the horse race however, Olopeng announced that MYSC will be financially sponsoring four of the categorie,  and of course “deejay tips”. He heralded that he was going to be on the decks at the after party.

It had previously been reported that certain stables had pulled out of the event with concerns that the event’s main sponsor Mascom had taken away the very essence of the event.  Some views were that ever since Mascom took control of the event, local riders were thrown smaller pieces of the pie. Incidentally, after spending time at the general public section, this belief was very much alive.

The biggest disappointment for a first timer like myself was the realisation that there was no betting. What good is a horse race without betting? It is practice worldwide, you know.

At least there should have been big screens placed strategically around the horse tracks so that patrons could track their preferred horses during the race.

Most attendants did not attend the event for the love of the race or even cared to know who won. Some of the die-hard fans also said it was very difficult to keep up with their favourites horses.

“The way the set up is, I cannot even see which position my favourite horse got.

I will just have to wait for the announcements,” said one spectator. Most people were spotted hanging out at their own little camps enjoying the scenery. The small stage that the event organisers had put up by the centre was barely warmed up during the breaks. There were little performances to keep attendants busy during the breaks.

The derby has been confirmed to come back again next year and hopefully there will be more flair to the event to really tickle my fancy.