Racing in the Netherlands

[Never Nearer]

Oh Landino in the last at Ayr today: "Ex-German gelding who won minor event in Holland in 2008. Well beaten on first start in Britain last month."

Apologies if this has been covered before, but how much racing is there in the Netherlands? What is the best horse there and what is it rated?

Thanks.

[robnorth]

Wikipedia lists:

Groningen
Alkmaar
Wolvega
Duindigt

I would imagine Duindigt is the premier course on the basis it’s only one I had heard of.

Rob

[Venusian]

According to the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities site, in 2007 there were 1445 horse races run in the Netherlands.

Of these, 101 were flat and 1344 were trotting, no jumps racing.

[clivexx]

I sometimes wonder about how racing really survives in countries where interest seems to be minimal….

I would have thought flat racing would have a perfect home in the netherlands…….

[AngloGerman]

All this time I’ve wanted to talk about Dutch racing, and now’s my chance (apologies if I ramble on!!!!)

Oh Landino was 6th in last years Dutch Derby, which is actually worth quite a decent amount of prize money – about 40,000 Euros I think. Christians horse Classical Song won the race, which was held at Duindigt, the only ‘gallop’ racecourse in Holland. It’s a sand track, also used for trotting. Oh Landino was trained by Jan Pubben, a lovely man who was seriously injured in a car crash a few months ago. I understand however he’s made a full recovery. Jan is often seen at racecourses in Germany, and he’s a really nice guy and actually quite successful with his raids over the border. He trains mainly for car dealer Lucien van der Meulen, whose yellow and purple colours are now a standing dish at places like Krefeld and Dortmund, however Oh Landino wasn’t one of his.

As for Duindigt, well, Christian has a runner there this Sunday! It’s the Dutch Derby Trial, and he’s sending Classic Sun, who, like Classical Song is Dutch owned. If I remember correctly, there are something like 8 trotting and 4 ‘gallop’ races on the days card, which kind of gives you an idea of things out there. I’ve not been to Duindigt (pronounced Down-dicked) yet, but it’s a course I’m hoping to visit in the not too distant future. There are some Exiles plying their trade over in Holland – Welshman Kevin Davies is one of the top trainers in the country along with English born John Smith, and fellow Englishman Terry Cain is one of the countries top riders – infact, all the names I’ve mentioned occasionally make the trip over the border to Germany. Probably the top jockey in Holland is home grown Stephen Hellyn, who is actually more than capable of holding his own against the best that Germany has to offer – I remember him outbattling Andreas Suborics in a driving finish at Dortmund once, and not many jockeys can do that!

As you can imagine, with only one racecourse, one race meeting a week, and only 3-4 races on that day, opportunities are limited, so for that reason pretty much any Dutch horse worth its salt will cross into Germany. I was at Krefeld last year for a race where 6 of the 9 runners were Dutch trained, and although they tend not to have the class to challenge for the top prizes, manys the time I’ve seen a horse from ‘Niederlande’ (as the Germans call it) walk away with a maiden race or handicap in Germany.

Darren – AngloGerman
________________________________________

‘The Hungarian’s going hell for leather’ – Jim McGrath

[graysonscolumn]

Quality stuff, Darren. Most informative!

101 Flat races, Venusian? Crumbs, that’s a thin return – only around double the figure for the Channel Islands per annum.

We had an emailer to the radio station last Sunday from Belgium, so we took the chance to ask him a few questions on air re: the sport there as well. A similar scenario to the Netherlands, it seems, in as much as there’s a lot less of it and it captures the imagination far less than, say, 25-30 years ago, where certain fixtures and prizes were still prestigious enough to attract riders of the likes of Lester Pigott.

Nowadays I guess our principle exposure to Belgian racing over here is mention of the odd British tilt at Waregem’s Grand Steeplechase De Flandres, or a mere smattering of former protagonists on the Fibresand at Ghlin Hippodrome finding their way over here as all-weather performers. Anyone else able to shed more light than that, though?

Cheers,

Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)

Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.

[AngloGerman]

Nowadays I guess our principle exposure to Belgian racing over here is mention of the odd British tilt at Waregem’s Grand Steeplechase De Flandres, or a mere smattering of former protagonists on the Fibresand at Ghlin Hippodrome finding their way over here as all-weather performers. Anyone else able to shed more light than that, though?

Cheers,

Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)

I thought you’d never ask!!!

Basically, Belgian racing consists of one days national hunt racing with trotting at Waregem and mixed trotting and gallop meetings in Mons (Ghlin), however Belgium does have flat turf racing at the delightfully named Duke of Wellington course in Ostend.

Waregem – What can I say? I’ve been to Aintree, Cheltenham, Chantilly and Baden-Baden among others but I’m proud to say that the amazing Waregem course, near the French border is the best course I’ve ever been to! SIXTEEN grandstands (most of them temporary!!), excellent viewing facilities, wonderfully friendly stewards, bookmakers all dressed in top hat and tails, and some of the most amazing fences you’ll ever see. Just a pity they forgot the parade ring, but this means bringing the horse from the stabling blocks along the home straight to the winning post where owners, trainers and jockeys are waiting. A fantastic place, although the entry price can be very high (50 euros for the best grandstand seats). For your money, you get 4 trotting races, a hurdles races,a handicap chase, the ‘junior’ Grand Steeple for 4 and 5 year olds only, and the big race itself. The Turf BE Website has some photos from last years meeting here:

http://www.turf-be.com/albums/20080902- … ex_fr.html

and on an unashamedly self congratulatory note, there’s a picture of myself with Stephanie (Christians ex-assistant trainer) and jockey Jan just before last years Belgian Champion Hurdle (seventh photo down on the left), where we had Our First Chesnut running. As you can see, we were all soaked – Stephanie had her hair done specially for the day and the poor girl looked a bit bedraggled, my suit was changing colour thanks to the rain, but Jan as usual played the ‘cool dude’!! Actually, I only noticed the photographer at the last second – they basically fly round at the start taking photos all over the place! Incase you’re wondering why our photo is titled ‘Raber Ecurie’, Mr. Raber was the owner of the horse – over in Waregem, the owner takes pride of place over the trainer. In the photos, you can also see the wonderful fences and the crowds (pity about the rain really), and there’s a parade before each race. Oh yes, the finalists of the Miss Belgium beauty contest are there too. Maybe that’s why I like the place so much!!!

Mons/Ostend – To be honest, I would mention Mons in the same breath as Duindigt except whereas the Dutch Derby carries prize money of around 45,000 Euros, the Belgian equivalent is worth only 6,500 Euros. Christian has won this race for the past couple of years with Festero and The Lemonpie, but to be honest, both these horses would be no more than mid-grade handicappers in Germany. Mons is a sand track as Jeremy mentioned, and it’s similar fare to Duindigt really – every Sunday with a mixed meeting of trotting and gallop. Ostend on the other hand is a turf track with an art deco style grandstand. Named the Duke of Wellington Hippodrome, Ostend racecourse is apparently near the centre of the town, however I couldn’t find it when I went last year! I hope to track in down in September! As with Holland, the better Belgian horses tend to come over to Germany, however some also make their way over to France. Probably the top trainer in Belgium is Savinja Braem, who trains the ex-English horse Very Wise among others. As for jockeys, I have to mention the excellent Koen Clijmans. He’s now stable jockey to Werner Baltromei, and although Dominiue Boeuf gets the top rides, I think Clijmans is a star of the future. He’s only about 21, and has already proved himself in Germany – I saw him ride a hat trick at Dortmund once, and he really has got talent.

Darren – AngloGerman
________________________________________

‘The Hungarian’s going hell for leather’ – Jim McGrath

[ricky lake]

I can confirm that Duindigt is a trotter mainly , have been there many times , standard of racing is bad , but a very pleasant day out nonetheless

heres a tip if you want to make money , wait for the tote odds to become clear and at the last minute get on the fav it generally wins …….wonder why this applies to all the trotting races

All you have to do then is pray they dont gallop as they are hot on disqualification

cheers

Ricky

[Debby]

I only know Duindigt, but I have never been there. Racing is not that big in the Netherlands. I did read an article in a news paper the other day, that stated what I said. As far as I know there is not much betting going on there either. But I can be wrong ofcourse. The only sports that will get the Dutch people of their seat is football/soccer or ice skating. These are the main sports attractions here in the country. If pople know of "horse people" they only know Anky van Grunsven, who won a medal at the Olympic Games. That was for showriding, if that is what it is called. She might be the only one people here associate with horses.

[Gerald]

The ice skating would be speed skating?

[Debby]

I think it is what they call it in English. We are pretty good at it. The Netherlands always ends in the top of the speedskating competitions. I don’t like it I must say.

[Pompete]

I thought the national sport in Holland was Cricket. They are very good at it

[Getzippy]

I thought the national sport in Holland was Cricket. They are very good at it

Well said, they’re bloody ace!

Zip

[Debby]

Well, it seems that they are good at cricket, as they beat the English team yesterday. But the sport they really love is football. We won there too yesterday from Iceland. I don’t follow both sports. The only thing I really like to watch are horse races.

[Gerald]

I’m sure that if you become friendly with Graysonscolumn, and catch a ferry to Harwich or Lowestoft, that he will introduce you to the delights of Market Rasen.

[Author]

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