2015 season: facts, number, fun facts
54 race days have been planned for the 2015 season at Służewiec (one day less than in the previous year). The inauguration will take place on 19th April, and the first full two-day racing will take place a week later (Saturday-Sunday). The end of the season has been planned for Sunday, 22nd November. No races will take place the day before.
Other important dates: Derby – 5th July; The Great Warsaw – 27th September; Arabian Derby – 26th July; Arabian Day – 23th August. One more racing meeting has been planned for this year (31. 05) under the auspices of H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, because The World Conference of Arab Horse Racing will take place in Warsaw at the end of May. Because of this event, the Ofir Award was renamed Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan International Cup, and the total prize pool in this competition reached 140 000 PLN (80 000 PLN for the first place).
The traditional summer break at Służewiec, during which the races will take place at the Sopot hippodrome, will start on Monday, 6th July and end on Friday, 24th July. In addition, no races will take place at Służewiec on the 13th and 14th June because of Orange Warsaw Festival taking place on the Warsaw Horse Racing Track.
1257 horses have been registered for this season. 740 Thoroughbred (including 194 bred abroad), 403 Arabs (70) and 60 half-blood horses. Among 54 French trotters, 17 have been bred in Poland.
Distribution of horses in individual years of Thoroughbred horses is similar. The highest number includes 2-year old horses – 277, only 65 of which were bred abroad, these horses comprised a higher fraction of all horses in the previous years.
There are slightly fewer four-year old and older Thoroughbreds – 246; while representatives of the Derby year form the smallest group – 217 horses. Among the Arabs the lead traditionally belongs to the 3-year old horses, their number being 217. There are 100 4-year old horses and 86 older ones.
The total prize pool foreseen for this year is 8 303 750 PLN (5 363 750 in Thoroughbred races, 2 740 000 in Arab races, 196 000 for trotters). Among the 468 races foreseen for the Warsaw track, 273 will include Thoroughbreded horses (including 9 hurdle races with a prize pool of 182 thousand zlotys), 173 will include Arab horses (117 open races and 56 for Polish breeds only), and French Trotters in 22 races, seeing its debut in the capital already on 25th April.
The France prize in this competition has been planned for 24th May. Half-blood horse races have not been foreseen in the racing schedule, however, they are probably going to take place as a sideshow.
Amounts planned for prizes in the biggest Thoroughbred races have been slightly increased. The increase does not include The Great Warsaw, which will see the same shared prize pool of 218 750 PLN. In case of the Derby, the prize pool has been increased to 175 thousand PLN (2014 – 148 750), and in the Lotto Chairman Prize races and in St. Leger – up to 87 500 PLN (78 750). Oaks will take place in Wrocław again.
In addition to the aforementioned Ofir Award race, prize amounts in the key Arab horse races have increased significantly. In Derby, the prize pool will total up to 112 thousand PLN (instead of 70 thousand) and in the Europe Prize race – 148 750 PlN (105 000 PLN).
Dates of the next most important races, after the Derby and The Great Warsaw, for Thoroughbreds: Spring (16th May), Ruler (17th May), Solina (6th June) and Iwna (7th June), Aschabada (21st June, again, two weeks before the Derby), the Lotto Chairman Prize (5th July during the Derby Gala), Kozienice (1st August), St. Leger (30th August), Minister of Agriculture and Countryside Development (27th September during The Great Warsaw Gala).
The first races for 2-year old horses, the Trial Prizes, will take place on the 27th and 28th June. Each of six such races, only for horses entered into the Polish Breed Book of Full English Blood Horses (PSB) will have a prize pool of 35 0000 PLN, namely 3.5 thousand more than last year.
9 hurdle races will take place at Służewiec this season. Aleksander Falewicz Memorial (10th May), Hadrian Prize, 1st Polish Army Division Prize, Jerzy Elias Memorial, Bojgard Prize, Baracz, Galileo (new), Kastor, Hubal and The Great Służewiec. However, no Hurdle Season End event is planned this year.
The race cycle for amazons, the Katarzyna Szymczuk Cup introduced the last year will begin on 20th June. The second race of this cycle will take place at the track of the capital on 12th September. Amazons will compete for points also in Wrocław. Traditionally, no races for youth jockeys will be missing – eight of them will take place at Służewiec.
Coach changes
Coach Sławomir Walotek returned to work at Służewiec after thirteen years, who in the meantime worked for eight years at the Jockey Club in Hong Kong. After the departure of Grzegorz Wasążnik, he is managing the stable of Sabina and Salih Plavac. In addition to 26 horses of the Plavac, Walotek will also coach Daston, owned by Ariel Dyszkielewicz – one of members of the new stable team. it also includes jockey Viktor Popov.
Kozienice Stable also has a new coach. Iwona Wróblewska working there until the end of last season is currently running a small stable at Służewiec, together with her son, Patryk. Nineteen Thoroughbreds are trained at Kozienice by Grzegorz Kowalski, formerly also known as a hurdle race jockey, who trained several horses during the last few seasons at Służewiec, including e.g. Scaloni and Gotham.
The small stable (7 horses) formed during the last season, owned by Marek Boruta, is no longer run by Klaudia Gembicka. She was replaced by Paweł Gluza, hitherto known better as a jockey.
The most numerous stables
The highest number of horses was registered for the season by Monika Rogowska – 86. Krzysztof Ziemiański registered only three horses less. 82 horses have been registered by Sergiusz Zawgorodny, however, 40 of them are half-bloods.
Much more numerous than in the previous seasons (65 horses) is the stable of Andrzej Walicki, who this time will also be the main candidate to become champion (he has been selected the Coach of the Year twice lately). This can be helped, in addition to great Thoroughbreds, also by an array of promising Arab horses (20).
The last year’s coaching champion Adam Wyrzyk registered 31 Thoroughbreds and 14 Arab horses, less than last year (59).
Mazur, and most probably Reznikov, will return, Szymczuk is already training
After autumn and winter spent in the Middle East, the best jockey of the last two seasons, Szczepan Mazur is returning to the Wyrzyk stable in April. It is probable that the six-time track champion, Aleksander Reznikov, is also returning from the USA to Warsaw. Jockey Wiaczesław Szymczuk is regaining health after a dangerous fall from his horse on the last day of the last season, who is already taking part in training rides. Marek Brezina already forgot about a foot injury gained in November.
