The English Page - Racing under lockdown

Thoroughbred racing continues all round the world at present, but almost all races are run behind closed doors, including in such major areas as Japan, Hong Kong, and most of Australia and the United States. Betting is almost all online, and some communities seem to handle this better than others; Japan, for example, reports that turnover is running at over 80% of its normal level (and that is astronomically high, by our standards).

The only racing taking place in Europe at the moment is in Sweden, and although the trotters take centre stage in Sweden, there is also thoroughbred racing at Bro Park in Upplands, some 40 kilometres from Stockholm, where they have been racing regularly since April 8^th, usually two or three times a week. There was even a German-bred winner there this week, Dapple (Appel au Maitre), one of the most popular horses in the country, who was winning for the eighth time in 44 starts. We well remember his sire, who ran several times in Germany and was fourth to Adlerflug in the 2007 German Derby, while he is out of a mare by Silvano.

It looks as if Germany will be the first major country in Europe to resume racing (always behind closed doors, of course), as at the moment racing is scheduled at Dortmund (on the sand track) next Monday, May 4^th, and later the same week at Hanover, with three listed races, on Thursday the 7th, Cologne, with two group races, on Friday the 8^th and Munich on Saturday the 9^th. However there could still be a problem with the two racecourses in the state of North Rhine Westphalia (NRW), Dortmund and Cologne, who have up to the time of writing not yet received permission from the local health authorities. Should they not receive this, then the two group races scheduled for Cologne, the Group Two Carl Jaspers-Preis (ex Gerling-Preis) and the Group Three Cologne Classic, an important early season classic trial, could be run elsewhere.

Obviously with no racing at all in April and very little in the first part of May, the whole of the European calendar for the first half of the season has had to be rejigged. We are still waiting for the revised dates from the U.K., but is highly likely that the Newmarket Guineas meeting will now be staged at the beginning of June, a month later than normal, and that the Epsom Derby and Oaks will be run on Saturday July 4^th. The French have published a revised schedule, with racing due to resume on May 11^th, their two Guineas races (Poules d´Essai) on Whit Monday, June 1^st, and both the Prix du Jockey Club and Prix de Diane on Sunday, July 5^th. The Grand Prix de Paris, traditionally run on the national holiday (Bastille Day) on July 14^th will now be run on September 13^th.

The German equivalents of the 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas have also been postponed. The Mehl-Mülhens-Rennen (2,000) will now be run on Whit Monday, and the German 1,000 Guineas on Sunday, June 21^st. The German Derby, originally scheduled for July 5^th (now French Derby Day) will now be a week later on July 12^th, and the original six day meeting will now take place over three days, July 10-12. There also seems to be a possibility that the top meeting of the season, Baden-Baden´s Grosse Woche, due to take place from August 29^th to September 6^th, could be postponed for a month until late September, and with it the all-important BBAG Yearling Sale. A lot depends on what the government and the various local authorities decide. At the moment the lockdown restrictions are being eased, with the general situation now seeming to be steadily improving. Most shops are now open, some schools and kindergartens are expected to open next week, likewise museums, zoos and libraries. However any event in which a large crowd could be expected Is banned until the at least the end of August. The decision on which sporting events may be held, and under what conditions, is expected next week. In France in fact, all sporting events are banned up to the end of June, but this does not apply to racing, which comes under a different ministry.

Almost everybody is suffering financially. This is certainly true of people involved in racing. Horses have to be fed and exercised, but with no money coming in, owners and trainers are taking a hit, and so are jockeys with no rides and even freelance journalists, with nothing to write about. If German racing starts next week, a week before the resumption in France, this could be an advantage, as the French betting giant the PMU has already stated that it will be taking all German races in that period, although as most of the bars and cafes where the bets are usually placed, will be closed, it is difficult to predict  how much turnover will actually be achieved.

As there will no betting on course, it is clear that off course betting has an important role to play. In this respect there has been an interesting development in Germany, which could well prove extremely helpful. Lars-Wilhelm Baumgarten, Guido Schmitt and Christian Sundermann, three well-known characters in the German racing scene, have used the format of an old reality TV show, to claim that they can persuade 100 people to bet 50 euros to win on every race scheduled from next week up to June 15^th, when the current revised schedule ends. In all 227 races are scheduled in that period, i.e. each person is committed to staking a total of 11,350 euros.

Of course they are probably not going to lose all of that sum, or even most of it, if they bet well. The German tote takeout on win bets is only 15%, so there is a good chance of breaking even or even making a profit. This means that every race in that period would have a win pool of 5,000 euros at least (assuming 100 participants) –in many cases probably more than it would be normally – and would certainly help to establish a serious and genuine betting market which would be an advantage to everybody.

The racecourses will obviously benefit from a much larger pool – with 12 races a day, as seems quite possible, they are going to make 15% of 60,000+ euros, which will make a significant contribution to their finances which are otherwise under severe pressure on day when no spectators are allowed and therefore no gate money and reduced income all round.

This scheme has caught on really well. It is being promoted by Germany´s racing paper the Sport-Welt, whose editors and tipsters are also taking part and which is publishing lists of all participants, which reads like a “who´s who” of German racing and breeding. The racing authority, Deutscher Galopp, is taking part with both its current president, Michael Vesper, and his predecessor Albrecht Woeste, having a go, as are leading owner/ breeders such as Gregor Baum (Gestüt Brümmerhof), the Faust family (Gestüt Karlshof), Andreas Jacobs (Gestüt Fährhof), Manfred Ostermann (Gestüt Ittlingen) and Baron Ullmann (Gestüt Schlenderhan), owners such as Christoph Berglar,  Stefan Oschmann (Darius Racing) and Hans-Gerd Wernicke (Stall Salzburg), also racecourse bosses such as Gerhard Schöningh (Hoppegarten) Dietrich von Boetticher (Munich) and Peter Michael Endres (Düsseldorf) and even bookmakers such as RaceBets and Simon Springer. There are also various extra prizes on offer, and Simon Springer is even offering a “wooden spoon ” prize of 5,000 euros to anybody who fails to bet a single winner! Anybody can take part and this is a fun idea which could prove very advantageous to the whole of German racing in these difficult times.

David Conolly-Smith