In the main event of Sunday's White Turf meeting, the Swiss debutant Rogue Spirit and top jockey Rene Piechulek, who had traveled from Munich, came up trumps.
09.02.2025, 21:13
09.02.2025, 21:33
SDA
The Swiss horse racing season began a week late on Sunday with the White Turf meeting on the frozen lake of St. Moritz.
After the cancellation of the planned first race day a week ago, the fact that races could take place at all on the frozen Lake St. Moritz on Sunday was nothing short of a miracle. The White Turf organizers did a great job to get the flattest racecourse in the world into a practicable condition. They were rewarded with the luck of the brave: without the cold temperatures over several nights, racing would have been out of the question. "On Monday, I was still up to my knees in water and snow slush inside," said Thomas Walther, President of the St. Moritz racing club, before the race began.
The final checks using a thermal imaging camera attached to a drone and georadar showed on Sunday morning that the track made of ice and snow was practicable and the races could take place on the entire oval. Only the lines on the opposite side had to be adjusted slightly. The most important thing, however, was that the horses were able to open the Swiss horse racing season a week late.
Officially 9,000 spectators (a year ago there were 11,000) attended and spent entertaining hours on the frozen lake, generating a betting turnover of 103,044 francs, around 25,000 francs more than a year ago.
Total triumph
The sprint for the Christoffel Bau Trophy was the highest-paying race of the day at 25,000 francs. Identified (5th) and Scipio (6th), who had already won on the snow, were unable to record another success this time. After the frontrunners had run riot at the head of the field, Rogue Spirit got better and better in the home straight and overtook Hungarian guest Surprise of Easter to win. The five-year-old gelding was running his first race for Anton and Verena Kräuliger, the Swiss owner-champions, and trainer Andreas Schärer from Dielsdorf. His jockey Rene Piechulek is one of the most successful saddle artists in Europe and has won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in Paris, among others.
The celebrations continued on an even bigger scale for trainer Andreas Schärer and the Kräuliger couple in the GP Swiss Quality Broker. In this preparatory race for the CHF 100,000 Grand Prix of St. Moritz next Sunday, they not only won, but also came second and third. A rare triple victory. The gray Saadi galloped to the lead early on and left his two stable mates Queroyal and Moderator half a horse length behind. Jockey Clément Lheureux celebrated his 161st victory in Switzerland, the second with Saadi, who has now been unbeaten in five races.
In the third flat race, Nick Cassedy dominated his training partner Friendly Face with Martin Seidl, a double victory for the Urdorf trainer Miro Weiss.
Schael from the top in UBS Skijoring
The last two "Queens of the Engadine" took the first two places in the "UBS - GP of Silvaplana". Defending champion Valeria Schiergen let her four-legged partner Schael gallop along at the front from the start, moved into the lead alone one lap before the end and never left any doubt about her victory until the finish. Valeria Selina Walther, the queen of 2023, can still have justified hopes of winning another title. She had gotten off to a bad start with Atlantico, but subsequently made up a lot of ground so that the gap at the finish was only five lengths. The winner Schael is trained in Cologne by Valeria Schiergen's father-in-law Peter and runs for the Murezzan Racing Stable.
5th victory at the 6th snow start
The most important trotting race was an easy prey for the great snow specialist Fourteenth of July, who had already scored four full marks at the last two White Turf meetings. Almost everything was different today: new driver, new owner, new trainer and for the first time the ten-year-old gelding was not running "barehoof" but with horseshoes. None of this made any difference: the 2.1:1 favorite left nothing to chance from the lead and won confidently ahead of Dix Huit Brumaire, who, like a year ago, took the place of honour, miles ahead of the rest led by defending champion Domingo Bello.
Marisa Bock rode Fourteenth of July for the first time and achieved the long-awaited first White Turf victory. Her partner Robert Pletschacher, who trains Snow King, was able to acquire the ten-year-old in the fall of 2024 after the death of his owner at the time. Fourteenth of July's twelfth career victory was therefore no longer for Swiss but Bavarian interests.
Robert Pletschacher missed out on his second victory of the day in the second trotting race by just one "head", 4 hundredths of a second. With Emir des Forges, the trainer, who was in the sulky himself this time, had to give way to the now three-time snow winner Classic Chrono with Romina Knecht.
