No winner for MTC summer horse derby

• By Rudolf R. Gaiseb

THE horse racing community has been thrown into turmoil after authorities failed to declare a winner in the final race of the MTC summer derby at the OKahandja Turf two weeks ago.

The results of the N,000 Import Open race could be announced due to the close finish between three horses.

Without photo-finish technology, no one could decide who the actual winner was.

Namibia Horse Racing Association (NHRA) president and horse owners were dissatisfied with the event’s conclusion but blamed the lack of clarity on the unavailability of photo-finish technology.

In an interview, NHRA president Hendricks Mannes said photo-finish technology could not be used at this event because the people who usually assist NHRA with the equipment could not attend due to other athletic activities.

“We spoke with our sponsor, MTC; we will withhold the results because we can’t decide which horse has won. We have ten cameras that display that the finish was tight, but we will use video footage from various sources to enable experts to analyse which horse won and give a final judgement during the week,” he said.

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