Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/429113
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 7 DECEMBER 2014 62 Sport FOOTBALL HORSE RACING Republic Day Finals ON 13th December in order to celebrate the 40th Anniversary since Malta became a Republic, the Marsa Racetrack will be host- ing 6 finals for trotters and one pony race. This racing programme is part of the activities organised by the Foundation for National Celebra- tions and in fact it was the FCN that provided the funds for all the prize money that is going to be distributed in these 7 races as well as the trophies. Interest by horse owners to participate in these races was very encouraging and in fact 18 qualification races were held on Sunday 23rd and Friday 28th No- vember. Each of the trot finals will have 12 participants and the draws for the Class Gold, Silver A, Silver B, Bronze and Copper have already been done last Monday. On the otherhand the draws for the Pre- mier Class were done today in the presence of all the owners and drivers of finalist horses. The 12 horses in the final with their probable drivers are the following: 1. Veikko Hornline (Julian Far- rugia) 2. P.A.Surprise (Lorraine Cun- ningham) 3. Vejby Boom (Charles Camilleri) 4. Wiss Roadrunner (Mario Far- rugia) 5. Gently di Poggio (Brian Hili) 6. Nova Kebell (Redent Magro) 7. Zalgado Transs R (Nicholas Bonello) 8. Madam di Poggio (Noel Bald- acchino) 9. Carmen Sund (Kurt Saliba) 10. Zwack (Eric Bezzina) 11. Schwerin Boko (Rodney Gatt) 12. Tap Dance (Michael Ellul) A total of 9000 Euro in prize money is going to be distributed in these 7 races of which 2400 euro will be won in the Premier class. In all the trot finals the first four finishers will be awarded trophies whilst in the pony race it is the first three that will be re- ceiving these awards. First race starts at 1:15 p.m Records tumble at the Bernabeu CRISTIANO Ronaldo scored a record-breaking 23rd Primera Di- vision hat-trick while Real Madrid equalled the Spanish record of 18 suc- cessive victories after beating Celta Vigo 3-0 on a memorable night at the Bernabeu. Ronaldo opened the scoring with a controversially-awarded penalty that he won himself in the 36th minute before netting twice more in the sec- ond half as he moved onto 200 La Liga goals for Madrid - having only joined the Spanish giants in 2009. The Portugal superstar's treble saw him go clear of Telmo Zarra and Al- fredo di Stefano for the most Primera Division hat-tricks, while also tak- ing him to 23 goals in just 14 league games this season. The victory also saw Madrid move a step closer to another berth in the record books. Having last weekend broken their club record of 16 successive wins, the European champions have now equalled the all-time record by a Spanish team of 18 successive victo- ries, set by Frank Rijkaard's Barcelona side in 2005 and 2006. Madrid will now be expected to claim that record outright on Tues- day when they host Ludogorets - who prop up Group B - in the Champions League. It has been a phenomenal run of re- sults from Carlo Ancelotti's men, who started the season with two defeats in their opening three league games having already lost the Spanish Su- percopa to Atletico Madrid, and Ron- aldo has been central to that success. Atletico Madrid made light work of a trip to Elche, beating Fran Escriba's struggling side 2-0 to record their fifth consecutive win in all competi- tions. Nineteen-year-old defender Jose Maria Gimenez netted an impressive first goal to put the visitors in front af- ter 16 minutes, and Mario Mandzu- kic then doubled the advantage early in the second half. This was far from a vintage per- formance from the champions, who managed just four shots on goal over the 90 minutes at the Estadio Mar- tinez Valero. However, they did not have to deal with many threats from an Elche side who have now failed to win any of their last five competitive games. Sergi Darder's first-half strike was enough for Malaga as Deportivo La Coruna's winless run continued with a 1-0 defeat at Riazor. Depo came into the match in the bottom three after five matches with- out a win and, although they may feel unfortunate not to get a share of the spoils, they simply were not clinical enough in front of goal. Cristiano Ronaldo: Netted all three Real Madrid goals