NIESPODZIANKA’S STARS

AUTHOR: KRZYSZTOF ROMANIUK PHOTOS: SŁUŻEWIEC RACECOURSE

This season Night Tornado and Timemaster, four-year-old colts of the Niespodzianka stables, trained by Krzysztof Ziemiański, turned out to be the brightest stars amongst the thoroughbreds. The first of them won the Golejewko Stakes in the spring, and later he reached out for the two most important races of the season, i.e. TS President’s Stakes and the Wielka Warszawska. He also successfully competed at foreign tracks three times. While fighting for the Velka Cena Slovenska, he lost by an inch to Czech Derby winner Opasan, and was close to finishing in third in a Listed race at Deauville in early August. He ended his campaign this year with a great victory in the Prix du Grand Camp (Listed) in Lyon. Along with Va Bank’s G3 race victories in Germany (2016) and Exciting Life’s victories in Listed races, this is the greatest success for an thoroughbred horse trained in Poland over the last two decades.

Timemaster, Horse of the Year 2020, had a fantastic second season in a row, again winning four top-class trophies at Służewiec. He won the Fryderyk Jurjewicz Memorial and Moszna mile races, the Syrena Stakes sprint race and the prestigious medium-distance Westminster Freundschaftpreis (for the second time). On top of that, he scored a convincing victory in the Cena Scottish Rifla race in Bratislava. The only less successful performance for him was his first race of the season (he finished last in the Golejewko Stakes), and he was not placed in a mile race in Paris (Listed) in October, participated in by many strong horses.

Other brave older fillies stayed a bit in the shadow of these two cracks. The 2020 derby winner Night Thunder (second at Widzów Stakes, TS President’s and Kozienice Stakes, among others) kept up steady performance, but scored no victories, as did the 2019 derby winner Nemezis (won SK Krasne Stakes, second in Golejewko Stakes, third in the Wielka Warszawska) and Petit (won Widzów Stakes, second in Wielka Warszawska), or two sprint veterans Umberto Caro (won Haracz Stakes and Criterium) and Comin’Through (won Przedświt Stakes and Korabia Stakes).

The derby age group failed to shine bright

The competition among three-year-olds was interesting, but when it came to comparative races, especially longer-distance ones, the older horses proved much stronger.

Power Barbarian quickly lost his position as the age group leader, and was replaced by Anator (trainer Wojciech Olkowski) after a convincing victory in the Strzegom’s Trophy. Young Thomas (trainer K. Ziemiański), who after a smashing victory at the group level, had a fantastic finish in the Ruler’s Stakes, made it to the top. It was the clash in the Iwna Stakes that was to determine which of the two colts would be the favorite in the Derby. Meanwhile Anator and Young Thomas... finished head to head, clearly beating Guitar Man (tr. Adam Wyrzyk) by 6 lengths, who came in third.

Nevertheless, the Derby, which took place in tough conditions, was full of surprises. The two mentioned above did not play the main roles (although Anator came in third), neither did Adahlen (fourth), ridden by Szczepan Mazur, nor Gryphon, gently led and highly graded (fifth). Surprisingly, it was Guitar Man who remained in the lead from the start, and Nania, trained in Germany, that battled for the victory. The filly had already beaten the colt in the straight, but the latter proved capable of striking back. He was led to this great victory by Joanna Wyrzyk, the trainer’s daughter, who thus became the first female rider in the history of Polish racing to triumph in the Derby for thoroughbreds!

The leading three-year-olds, however, did not play significant roles in the competition against older horses. Guitar Man did not perform again until the end of the 2021 season (due to phlegmon), Nania was second in SK Krasne (behind Nemezis) and fifth in the Wielka Warszawska, Anator was fifth in Moszna Stakes and fourth in Korabia Stakes, Gryphon was second in Pink Pearl Stakes and Korabia Stakes and Young Thomas was third in Kozienice Stakes.

When it comes to the derby age horses, Lagertha Rhyme, trained by Maciej Kacprzyk, deserves special praise. The filly came in second in Wiosenna Stakes (behind Adam Wyrzyk’s Wedding Ring), but she did very well in the second part of the season at Służewiec, winning the Pink Pearl Stakes, finishing third in the Westminster Freundschaftpreis (behind Timemaster and Comin’Through) and second in Moszna Stakes (behind Timemaster). In addition, she demonstrated a solid run in France, competing three times at a Listed level, finishing sixth twice and fifth once, each time just inches behind.

As for the two year olds, the competition was dominated by horses from the Westminster group. The leader in the age group was Moonu from Maciej Janikowski’s stable, unbeaten in three starts (she achioeved the Skarb Stakes and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Stakes). Following her in the ranking is the duo trained by Maciej Jodłowski - the colt Matt Machine (who won at Mokotów) and the filly Westminster Cat (Dakota and Efforty). We should expect that several other horses will join the top spots already in the spring and the competition for the main trophies will be very fierce. How strong will the next derby-age horses be, we will find out soon enough.

Hurdle races are back at Służewiec

After a few years without hurdle races at the Służewiec Racecourse, we could see this competition again in the 2021 season. Practically, this belonged to trainer Janusz Kozłowski, who together with his wife Katarzyna prepared the outstanding Noble Eagle, amongst others. After an easy win in the spring in a flat race, the five-yearold won as many as four hurdle races - two at Służewiec Racecourse, including the Great Służewiec Race, and two in Wrocław. The only time he did not cross the finish line first was during the race of the 1st Division of the Polish Army Trophy, when he fell over the last fence while holding quite a large lead. That run, however, ended with the victory of Leading Lion, another horse trained by Janusz Kozłowski. The latter had earlier also won the Bojgard’s Hurdle Stakes and in September he took an excellent third place in the Great Partynice Race. One race went to Hibernian, too. Other trainers like Małgorzata Pilipczuk (Artysta), Marek Brezina (Juraszek) and Grzegorz Wróblewski (Roxie Rose) were victorious only in the competitions for three-year-olds.

Arabians do well in Europe again

When it comes to the competition of Arabian horses, it is again the horses representing the Polska AKF company, i.e. the Polish branch of the famous Saudi Al Khalediah Stables, that boast the greatest achievements. The undisputed star among the older Arabians in Polish training was the six year old Amwaj Al Khalediah, prepared by Maciej Kacprzyk and a half-sister to the superb Fazza Al Khalediah. The filly started at Służewiec only three times in the 2021 season, but each time she won with a big advantage, claiming the Comet, Ofir Stakes and Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan - European Stakes (G3). This last success, achieved in wonderful time and style, earned her a trip to Paris for the big race of the Qatar Arabian World Cup, assuming that she would join the fight for paid positions. Unfortunately, she did not manage to repeat the achievement of the aforementioned half-brother (a sensational win in 2018) or even finish in the top seven (which Salam Al Khalediah managed to do in 2019) and the filly finished only 11th. But a month later she brought joy to her fans again by winning the Jockey Club Stakes (G3) in Rome in good style.

The Polish AKF had an even stronger representation among the four year olds. Three of them looked promising at the age of three and confirmed that in the spring at Służewiec. The trio met in the first edition of the prestigious Tiwaiq Central European Arabian Derby in late May. Starting as the favorite after an impressive win in the Kabaret Stakes, Amwaj’s brother Mayar Al Khalediah (trainer Michał Borkowski) and highly rated Rasmy Al Khalediah, returning to the track after an injury, were quite unexpectedly defeated by Dary Al Khalediah, ridden by Szczepan Mazur, which delighted his trainer Bartosz Głowacki. These three passed an exam thus earning a pass to start in the Derby in France. At Chantilly they finished in the same order, yet Dary and Mayar demonstrated a very good performance, taking 4th and 5th place in the international field. Rasmy was less successful at that time, but the rest of the season belonged to him. Although Dary still won the Figaro Stakes at Służewiec, an injury eliminated him from further performances. Mayar, on the other hand, lost his stride, giving his best performance during the Arabian Day at the Al Khalediah Poland Cup (Listed). He dictated a strong pace then and contributed to a track record (1600 m - 1’45,9”), which... was set by Rasmy, who did better in the final meters. That was one of this year’s three Listed race successes for Rasmy, trained by Janusz Kozłowski, as he won without any problems immediately before this race and also a month afterwards in Sweden, thus becoming one of the most successful Arabians in Poland.

Other Arabian stars

Other great performing horses were a bit overshadowed by those stars. Those include the Dutch Samonlau ‚OA’ trained by Cornelia Fraisl (among others he won the Kurozwęki Stakes and was second in Europe Stakes), Apollo del Sol from the stable of Justyna Domańska and Wasma Al Khalediah (trainer M. Kacprzyk). Among the Polish senior Arabians, the one to stand out were Dragon, who had his ups and downs this year (he won Bandos Stakes and Michałów Stakes), as well as Wielki Dakris, who got back to his best in autumn when he won the Grand Slam Stakes and UAE President Cup (Listed), sensationally beating Rasmy in the final clash. Wielki Dakris is owned and bred by Krzysztof Zakolski and trained by Adam Wyrzyk.

Meanwhile, Zbigniew Górski, the breeder and owner of Dragon, gained another outstanding horse. Alsahr, trained by Maciej Janikowski, turned out to be the undisputed best in the Derby, as well as throughout the entire season (he also won at Janów Stakes) among Polish fouryear-olds. In the main tests for Polish-bred 4-year-olds he beat Kenjiy, trained by Cornelia Fraisl. He also claimed the third place in the Europe Stakes and the fourth in the Tiwaiq Derby, thus proving that he can easily follow in the footsteps of Dragon, who successfully competes with the Arabian elite in Poland. Hefira Grand (trainer Andrzej Laskowski) won the Oaks, for which the line-up was not too strong.

As for the three year olds, the leaders turned out to be Love Awam, unbeaten in three perforamnes at Służewiec, who won the Europe and Białka Stakes for Cornelia Fraisl, as well as Al Faisal, trained by Maciej Kacprzyk, who won the Emael and Amurath Stakes. The trainer from Służewiec also noted three wins with Bayareq, who is making progress. Fans were also delighted with the talented three year olds of Polish breeding, who demonstrated that they can successfully compete with imported horses. Those are the powerful duo of Andrzej Laskowski’s, colts El Nazir and Han Rastaban, Al d who made a great progress in the autumn, or Janów’s Wirgilion, who comes from the first foal sired by SS Mothill, and promises to make a name for himself in the future.

Top-class competitions amongst trotters

Traditionally, the Służewiec Racecourse was also home to competitions for French trotters. This season, horses from the stable of Anna Frontczak-Salivonchyk played the leading role. These are Fend d’Ukraine - the first part of the season belonged to him, and Factoriel, who did a great job in the autumn, winning among others the most prestigious Cheval Francais race. Goteborg, exceptionally brave and reliable, established herself amongst the best ones as well.

She maintained the most even form throughout the season. Another filly that must be mentioned among the best was Furnika, brilliant, but unpredictable. Once more, the filly shone in some races, smashing her rivals, but in others she had some failures, which were usually caused by galloping. It was also a good season for Eden Pierji and George Banks. The derby age group, on the other hand, saw many changes. Hronika was the first to shine, winning in Warsaw and Sopot, but in the second part of the season her star faded. Hadol de Brion and Henzo du Pont stood out for a while. However, the final part of the season belonged to Hmary d’Ukraine, Havana Flash imported from France and Hello Bill, who did not win, but showed the most consistent performance. The most important race, the Derby for Trotters, saw the victory of Hmara d’Ukraine, driven by Vasyl Finchuk, from the stable of Janusz Miśko, who defeated Hello Bill, led by his trainer and owner Magdalena Kieniksman.