The maiden edition of the Afro Beach Festival horse racing event took place at Laboma Beach Resort in Accra on December 30 and January 1.

The event, which formed part of the Afro Beach Festival celebrations during the “December in Ghana” festivities, attracted thousands of fans from across the world to Laboma Beach, where they were treated to a series of thrilling horse races.

Among the winning horses were Puddle, Sonic, Sky, Rooney and Sayaria, who delivered standout performances over the two days. Riders of the winning horses each received a prize of 1,000 Ghana cedis.

Speaking to JoySports, the President of the Horse Racing Association, Mohamed Jara, said he was impressed with what he witnessed.

“We had to put things together to make this race successful,” he said.

“In the two days we raced, everybody put massive effort in the races. We want corporate bodies to help us.

"Laboma has helped us in organizing two races the past few months, so if we get other corporate bodies to also support us, horse racing in Ghana will go far.”

The Marketing Manager of Laboma Beach Resort, Carl Kumedzina, also revealed that his outfit partnered with the Horse Racing Association to help revive the sport in the country.

“The racing culture is an old sport and has been with us for a while, but for some time now they’ve not been getting the needed support and resources as well, so Laboma Beach Resort came to a partnership with them to help boost the sport and also to support domestic tourism as well.”

The next edition of the beach horse racing event will take place later this year.