A RECORD-BREAKING WESTMINSTER DERBY

It looks like this year’s Westminster Derby is set to break some records. A record prize pool and a record number of horses enrolled in the first round of registration. You have been a partner of this race for many years. What do you think about the development of this race?

We are proud to have the opportunity to contribute to this progress as a sponsor. We have always maintained that a high prize pool is a key to the development of horseracing. This year the record-breaking pool attracted owners from both Poland and abroad. In our opinion, the prospect of such high prizes is a great motivation for all of us, especially the trainers who work on preparing horses to compete at the highest sporting level over a distance of 2,400 meters.

Amongst the registered horses are not only those trained by Poles, but also those trained in Germany and the Czech Republic. Of course, the Czech Republic has its Derby with a prize pool similar to that in Poland; it was even higher last year. I am a bit surprised to see guests from the Czech Republic at the Służewiec Derby. As for Germany, we found out that more horses would be registered from their side last season already, because the level of prizes in international races held in Poland is quite attractive for the Germans. It will be a good opportunity for Polish trainers and owners to see how we compare to our European rivals sportswise.

Thanks to your sponsorship, the prize pools for the races in this season are growing: Westminster Wiosenna, Westminster Ruler, Westminster Derby and Westminster Cardea Stakes. Why do you support these races?

Classic races for three-year-old horses are at the heart of our sport, so supporting them financially is something obvious to us. The prize pools in the Westminster Wiosenna, Westminster Ruler Stakes and the Westminster Derby have gone up by 40% in recent years, which is a lot. What was also important to us was to bring the prize pools in the Wiosenna and Ruler Stakes to the same level. We consider this to be a message that mares and stallions in Poland are equally valued. We want to encourage owners to buy mares, because we consider them important for the future of Polish breeding.

You have a good set of three-year-old horses for this season. Many of them performed well in their first starts as two-yearolds. Which horses do you have the highest hopes for this season?

It is true that we are satisfied with the results this season. We have good horses with a wide range of qualities. As many of them are constantly developing, it is hard to assess them properly at this point. We continue to put a lot of hope in Moonu; personally I think that the best distance for her is 2,000 m, maybe a bit longer, so we are looking forward to her next performances. Trainer Krzysztof Ziemiański has a very good opinion of the stallion Kaneshya, who is a big horse capable of finishing really well. I think he will get better as the distance increases. Of course, we must not forget about the mares that are not rated high yet, like Lady Iwona and Lady Jaguar, which I expect to make great progress halfway through and at the end of this season.