Next Sunday, April 28, Malta will host for the first time the European Women’s FEGAT Championship. FEGAT is the European Federation for Amateur drivers and unites 13 European countries. This is the 40th edition of this championship which will be organized by the Malta Racing Club with the support of EquestriMalta.
Malta partnered with FEGAT back in 2019 and already had positive performances in championships of this Federation where among others it is the current reigning champion in the world championship of this Federation with the victory of Cliferty Calleja in the 2022 edition staged in Italy.
This will be the second participation for Malta in the FEGAT Women’s European Championship, where after the experience in Norway last year, the Malta Racing Club has again chosen the young driver Cherise Farrugia to represent Malta in this homebound edition. Cherise Farrugia is a 19-year-old young driver who already has a prolific career in horse racing.
Driving her first official race on the 5 October 2020, Cherise registered her first victory on the 1 November of the same year. she has until now driven 462 official races and won 57. Among her achievements, Cherise counts a victory in the Prix de Caen 2021 final with Givre Nonantais and is also the winner of the classification for jockeys under 25 years of age for 3 consecutive years. In last year’s participation in Norway as part of 2023 edition of this same Championship, Cherise had registered a victory on horse Apollo Creed whilst finishing 6th overall.
For this FEGAT European Ladies Championship, Malta will host 12 other participants who together with Cherise Farrugia will drive 4 races as part of this championship which will be held at the Malta Equidrome sport complex. This will be the second international event organized by the Malta Racing Club in our country in a period of 6 months.
The Minister for Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation Dr Clifton Grima expressed his satisfaction for the joint collaboration between Malta Racing Club and EquestriMalta through which another European event will take place in Malta. This will not only attract twelve different countries and strengthen this sport and the tourism it brings, but also certificate once again our country as gaining recognition for its capabilities and resources at holding international events of this calibre. Minister Grima added that as a country we should continue to improve and grow our reputation on these successes to continue to present championships of this kind, in this case a European championship for women, that is being hosted for the first time in Malta.
The CEO of EquestriMalta Max Zammit claimed that EquestriMalta is committed to continue to attract, promote and financially support such activities that not only offer a show and sports tourism, but serve as a showcase and promotion of this sport, even with women, building on the success of Cherise Farrugia and her participation abroad.
The Vice Chairman of the Malta Racing Club Tony Demanuele thanked the owners for their collaboration in offering their horses to run in this championship. He also stressed how with the financial and administrative help of EquestriMalta, such championships can be held at the Malta Equidrome and appealed for continued synergy for the good of the sport.
