This weekend is as much about fashion as it is about horse racing. The history of Ladies’ Day dates back to 1823 when an anonymous poet described a race at Ascot in the UK as “.. . when the women, like angels, look sweetly divine,” and now this honoured tradition has its day in Nairobi at the Ngong Racecourse on Sunday 07 May 2023.
Horse racing in Kenya continues to serve as a measure of culture and trends in vogue with glamorous outfits, haute couture, and whatever is or about to be in fashion adorning celebrities, models, and a who’s who of society.
One of Kenya’s top models, the elegant Achiko Omulokoli, believes Ladies’ Day “is always a vibrant and fun day, and fashion, which is one of the main parts of racing, is an opportunity to express oneself.”
Joyce Makena, another acclaimed model and regular at the races, opined that “for ladies, it’s an opportunity to be seen, and because the world is a much more visual place than it used to be, the races are a place that you can properly dress up and wear fashion that you couldn’t wear anywhere else.”
The relationship between fashion brands and racing is unmistakable with known houses that include Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Hermes, Christian Dior, and Versace using horses and horse racing themes as inspiration for seasons and editorial campaigns, repeatedly.
For the punters, there’s the opportunity for artistry with the bijou fields, to pick triptychs and make concatenations of winnings. The recent rains mean that the track will be softer and more holding which will mean that races will feel longer and lighter horses should fare better.
The first race of the afternoon at 1:30 PM is a 1200m sprint where the lesser weights of Camberley and Twyford should make them competitive against the considerably lighter Bling who holds the natural advantage. The 1400m Spencer Tryon Trophy at 2:05 PM should be the easy domain of Bullet without much fuss.
The mid-distance 1800m 2:40 PM race sees Scott as the natural favourite but Easterly, ridden by P Kiarie, is 8kg lighter which should offer a significant advantage over this distance.
The 1800m Kenya Cambridgeshire at 3:15 PM has the once almost jewel-in-the-crown Saint Moritz as the dominant steed and expected winner, but All Over Again and Westwind are both 9kgs lighter and this should make them close in the running.
The main race of the day, The Kenya Oaks, run over 2400m at 3:50PM is another opportunity to ogle the only undefeated horse in the 2022/23 racing season and Kenya Derby winner, Honeywell Orange, the patron of Ladies Day. Owned by Lady Spencer, it is hard to see this champion being beaten.
The final race of the afternoon is the 4:25 PM Champagne Stakes, a 1200m dash that The Gambler should win, but is a race that could go to the finish line.
The excitement of racing is garnished by a much coveted pop-up market featuring the award-winning 254 Brewing, who have just won two accolades at the African Beer Cup in South Africa, alongside Maurizio’s, Fabio’s Pizza, and Lekker who make up the core of the epicurean selection and which now includes Nairobi’s best shawarma and Vietnamese.
