In the News: ‘Outside Nairobi, the only track for 3,300 miles’

Check out Brendan Bannon’s New York Times profile of the Ngong Racecourse in Nairobi, Kenya, the only track in a 3,300-mile swath of Africa between Egypt and Zimbabwe.

On one hand, the racing scene in Kenya sounds familiar. Reads the story,

Derby Day in Kenya, which was April 14 this year, attracted Kenyans and expatriates, young couples and families. Women in oversize sunglasses and summer frocks sipped Champagne. Bookies called final odds. Skittish horses shied from the starting gates.”

Yet, some third-world influences are obvious:

…The jockeys struggle to earn $20 a ride, even in the big races. For the country’s biggest race, the Kenya Derby, the winning horse’s owner may take home little more than $7,200. Grooms, who wake up at 4:30 six mornings a week to muck out stables and brush down horses, make less than $100 a month.”

Read the full story, with its spectacular photos, here.

A great big thanks to Amanda Ronan for the tip!