At the White Turf Final on Lake St. Moritz, the German guest Snow Player and jockey Patrick Gibson outdid the favorites in the "Evangelos Pistiolis Foundation - 85th Grand Prix of St. Moritz".
22.02.2026, 18:38
SDA
The four-year-old stallion thus compensated his entourage with owner Paul Bowden and trainer Michael Figge in front of 11,000 spectators (betting turnover over 120,000 Swiss francs) for his bad luck on the first day of the race, when he became riderless through no fault of his own.
The favorites had a difficult time in the horse race with the highest purse in Switzerland at CHF 100,000. Defending champion Saadi, who was still unbeaten after three starts on snow, ran at the front for a long time - in the end it was only enough for ninth place.
Far ahead of the rest, two horses fought for victory that only very few had expected. Snow Player gave the chestnut stallion Look To Remember from the quarters of retiring Urdorf trainer Miro Weiss no chance in a duel between two four-year-olds on the home straight. Third place went to Nerion, who, like Canouann in fourth place, is trained by Karin Suter-Weber in Dielsdorf. Several Swiss horses did well, but Snow Player, prepared in Munich-Riem by Michael Figge and ridden by Patrick Gibson, was no match for them.
From unlucky horse to celebrated winner
Two weeks ago, Snow Player had not yet been able to show his class in the preparatory race for the Grand Prix of St. Moritz, as Patrick Gibson had to go down in an incident. Two weeks later, Patrick Gibson's feelings were completely different: "I love this horse, I really love him at home in the stable. I always said he was going to be a really good horse. It's just incredible, everything has fallen into place." So the efforts of Gibson, who is very tall for a jockey at 183 centimeters, paid off. The morning before the race, he jogged around the track to lose weight.
In only his fourth career start, the four-year-old stallion justified the high opinion his trainer has always had of him. "He impressed us so much at his first lifetime start that we had big plans for him," said trainer Michael Figge, "unfortunately he developed growth problems afterwards. He fell the following summer and the whole year was over. Then he made a very good comeback six weeks ago after a thirteen-month break to get fit for St. Moritz. And then bad luck on the first Sunday - the owner wanted to stop and bring the horse home." Fortunately, the 53-year-old was able to convince his owner Paul Bowden to leave Snow Player in the Engadin and compete in the St. Moritz Grand Prix.
Valeria Selina Walther is the "Queen of the Engadine"
In skijoring, defending champion Valeria Selina Walther and Alpenjäger had no chance of winning the overall title even before the final. This was decided between two other Engadin riders, Valeria Selina Walther (Pontresina) and Silvio Martin Staub (Bever). On the first two race days, Walther had won with Almacado Gree ahead of Staub with Hasta La Vista in tow. This time, Silvio Staub was unable to finish after an incident at the end of the first opposite side. This meant that the decision had already been made more than one lap before the end.
Ispahan from the Engadine stable ForzAgricula, trained by champion trainer Josef Stadelmann in Dielsdorf, took the day's victory with a fast run from the front. The St. Moritz ski instructor Erich Bottlang - by far the oldest active skijoring skier at 65 - once again impressively showed the younger skiers that he is always a force to be reckoned with. Valeria Selina Walther's second place with Almacado Gree, who was victorious on the first two Sundays, was enough for her to win the UBS Skikjöring Trophy. The 28-year-old from Pontresina can therefore call herself "Queen of the Engadine" for the second time after 2023.
Stall Allegra wins for the 7th time thanks to Beau Gars
The sprint, with prize money of 25,000 Swiss francs, produced the same result in the first two places as a week ago. Beau Gars with the Kyrgyz rider Esentur Turganaaly Uulu won just ahead of the English rider Fandom. The Allegra Racing Club stable, the large community of owners with Grisons roots, thus celebrated its seventh victory at the White Turf meeting. His rider secured the overall jockey classification, Carina Fey, based in Lamorlaye north-east of Paris, the trainer classification and the Allegra stable the classification for the most successful owners at the meeting.
Fourteenth of July remains the snow king of the trotters
In the most important trotting race, the Grand Prix Pontresina and Hotel Walther, the three winners of the first two days of racing met at the summit. King Fourteenth of July, who had already been counted out two weeks ago (clearly beaten two weeks ago), put his subjects in their place this time with Marisa Bock in the sulky. The eleven-year-old, trained by his owner Robert Pletschacher in Bavaria, achieved his eighth victory on Lake St. Moritz. Harper Seabroock, his conqueror from the first White Turf Sunday, was obviously not in the same form after a day off due to a slight fever, but still finished second ahead of Icelander. His driver and trainer Loris Ferro thus secured the kilo silver for the second time for the most successful trotting driver of the meeting.
In the second trotting race, Barbara Krüsi's horses celebrated a double victory. Her son Silvan drove the favorite Gy du Ganep to a superior success despite a 25-meter starting handicap, while Barbara Krüsi snatched the place of honour away from Animator Classic Chrono with Go For Jet.
Last victory for trainer Miro Weiss
For Swiss trainer legend Miro Weiss, White-Turf 2026 marked the end of his successful career. After more than 1200 victories, the 76-year-old saddled his very last horses on Lake St. Moritz. After a magnificent place of honor in the Grand Prix of St. Moritz with the giant outsider Look To Remember, Weiss actually scored a direct hit in the very last race. Tim Bürgin rode Nick Cassedy from the Tell stable to a much-acclaimed victory ahead of his training partner Friendly Face. It was Miro Weiss' 99th White Turf victory - a record for the ages.
