26 Jan 2020

 Fashion, food, celebrity sightings and horse racing will be the order of the day at the inaugural annual Gabs July slated for July 4.  

The event will take place at Sebele Race Track in Gaborone where celebrities and socialites are expected to put their best foot forward and step out in style to watch the horse racing event. 

Speaking at the pre-launch of Gabs July, Gaborone deputy mayor , Lotty Manyepetsa said the city and Botswana economy need iconic events that would not only lure spectators, but attract consumers of the country’s goods and services. He indicated that President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi alluded to the fact that Botswana would strive to host more international sporting events, not only to attract foreign direct investment, but also to develop the capacity of the people and create jobs. 

He said the Gabs July would be one of the events that promote both domestic and international tourism on a bigger scale and would showcase Gaborone as a sport entertainment destination. 

Manyepetsa said the thrilling spectacle would bring together business associates and offer a great outing for families and friends as well as an opportunity for businesses to benefit from the downstream income. 

He said the horse racing sport would impact Batswana favourably, as it would create direct and indirect jobs, as well as improve infrastructure because it was an integral part of the success of any sporting activity. 

He said the event organisers were working on a plan to configure the Sebele Horse Race Track to conform to international standards that would allow other race meetings to occur and further popularise the sport. 

Gabs July director, Ben Wiseman Ben said the derby would be an annual event, which would give spectators value for money with more than 10 races per day. 

He said the event was targeting to register 120 horses both Tswana breed and others for the day adding that they would be guided by the governing bodies being Horse Society of Botswana and Botswana Horse Racing Association.  

The derby will feature 120km endurance race, 120km endurance race for professional riders and an 80km race for amateurs. 

Ben said the structure would see more amateurs graduate to professional riders every year. 

Ben said they would introduce a grassroots training programme called I-Ride, which would target primary schools. ENDS