Sopot Horse Races 2018
14-15 / 21-22 July 2018
Sopot Horse Races 2017
15-16 / 22-23 July 2017
HORSE RACES have been held at the Sopot Hippodrome for many years. This exceptionally spectacular event gathers many visitors, both devoted fans and lay viewers as the races are easy to comprehend and exciting for everyone. Horses from the stables of Warsaw and Wrocław mounted by the best Polish riders participate in these meetings.
Horse races have been known and performed since the ancient times. They were most widespread in the Ancient Rome but the chariot races were among the events of the Greek Olympic Games.
It is chiefly the English full-flood and Arab full-blood horses accompanied by half-blood horses and trotters that participate in the races. Horse races are divided into flat races (no obstacles) and steeplechasing.
Apart from the gallop races, also the trotter races in harnesses or saddles are held. Racing horses are mounted by experienced riders – jockeys who need to be short and light. Jockeys are always weighed with their saddles before the race. If a jockey is too light, special weights are inserted into the saddle to make sure that all horses carry the same load.
During the races, parimutuel betting is a typical practice. Among others, the spectators bet on the the winning horse, the winning horse and the runner-up, the three first positions or positions to be won by a particular horse.
This year English and Arab full-blood horses, half-blood horses and trotters with carts called sulky participated in the races at the Sopot Hippodrome. The winners were awarded with Cups from the Secretary of Agriculture and Country Development, Marshal of the Region of Pomerania, President of the City of Sopot, President of the Sport Parimutuel Monopoly, President of Polish Horse-Racing Club, Sluzewiec-Warsaw Horse-Racing Track Director, The Standardbred and Trotting Horse Association and money prizes.