By Ibrahim Muhammad
Nigeria’s home-bred racehorses are rapidly closing the gap with global speed standards and may soon rank among the fastest horses in the world, the National Coordinator of the Horse Racing Federation of Nigeria (HRFN), Mustapha Abubakar-Bida, has said.
Abubakar-Bida made the disclosure on Saturday during the grand finale of the Kano Derby, held under the theme: “Renewed Hope International Horse Racing Derby.”
Speaking with The Newsprint, the HRFN boss said Nigerian-bred horses had shown remarkable improvement in speed, skill and endurance throughout the competition.
“Today, history has been made. Our horses that were born and bred in Nigeria are breaking records day by day,” he said.
He explained that Nigerian horses had improved significantly in timing, noting that they previously covered five furlongs in about one minute and 10 seconds, but achieved the feat in one minute during the final race.
“That is one of the highest speeds you can get in horse racing. We are moving closer to breaking a global record as far as speed is concerned.
“This is also putting Nigeria on the global stage. Gradually, we are getting there, and we will soon have horses rated among the top-speed horses in the world,” he added.
On efforts to modernise horse racing in Nigeria, Abubakar-Bida said the federation’s introduction of starting gates had improved time management and raised the standard of competitions.
He also described the introduction of a novelty female jockey race as a major milestone for gender inclusion in the sport.
“This is the first time in Africa that girls are racing in an international event. We are encouraging women to come into racing in line with global practice.
“Horse racing for women has been happening in Europe and America for over 40 years,” he said.
The HRFN coordinator added that the federation’s goal was to produce Nigerian-trained female jockeys capable of competing internationally.
Meanwhile, the two-day Kano Derby was dominated by Speedy Stables of Bauchi and S.D Stables of Niger, which won major prizes including cars, trophies and cash rewards.
In Race 23 (5F/1000M), S.D Stables’ Abba won the President Bola Tinubu Cup, while in Race 19 (10F/2000M), the same stable’s Lailatu Qadri claimed the Etsu Nupe Cup, presented by His Royal Highness, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar.