Positive signs n the horseracing sector – the interwiew with Tomasz Chilimoniuk, Chairman of the Polish Jockey Club

POSITIVE

SIGNS IN THE HORSERACING SECTOR

On the 2021 season and opportunities for the development for the horseracing sector with Tomasz Chilimoniuk, Chairman of the Polish Jockey Club

AUTHOR: HANNA ZALEWSKA PHOTOS: SŁUŻEWIEC RACECOURSE

We are up for yet another pandemic season. How does it look from your perspective?

Although we are a bit late, we are finally making a start. I hope it will be calm now and we will be able to complete 51 race days in Warsaw and 12 in Wrocław. I hope that nothing will be able to stop us and the season will be successful, both in terms of sports and social matters, as well as that we will be able to return to the times when race course were full of spectators.

How does the 2021 season look like?

As usual there are some main highlights this year including the Derby on July 4, the Great Warsaw Race on September 26, the Great Wroclaw Race on June 5 and the Crystal Cup on October 6. There are 1,237 horses enrolled for the season. We are very pleased with the increase in the number of entered thoroughbreds - cherries on top of cake in racing - for the first time in many years. With a constant number of Arabian horses and trotters, there is hope that after a few years of stagnation the time for development has come.

May 1 marks the beginning of the season in Warsaw and May 3 in Wroclaw. Is the fact that the calendar is more and more compatible a coincidence or is the cooperation getting closer?

After years of unhealthy competition there is cooperation between the venues today. This synchronization is encouraging, but this schedule is not the only sign of

joint efforts. Today each venue wants to help the other. Each of them cares about the same thing - the development of racing and the development of breeding, and they are all ready to work together to achieve this goal.

There is one more thing that will connect these two racecourses this season, because fence racing is coming back to Warsaw Służewiec.

It is true, fences will appear here in Warsaw after many years. This is another element that we are happy about. The possibility to compete at two racecourses, in two different settings of the obstacles and in different surroundings will provide a more objective screening of horses.

For some time now we have been planning closed races, only for Polish-bred horses. Do you think that it is already strong enough that horses registered in the PSB and PASB will be able to prove themselves in international competition?

There is a bigger picture in the opening of races. The discussion is about the extent to which we should open races in order to ensure their proper level of screening compared to how to maintain the financial support of Polish breeding. The more races we open, the more help we have to give to domestic breeders. And this is what is happening. For many years we have been running a program to support Polish breeding, and this year it was broadened to include bonuses for the new ones involved. So the more money we have for such support, the more races we can open.

What are you looking forward to most in the upcoming 2021 season?

What I miss the most is people in the stands, so that during the Great Warsaw Race or other big races we could again see beautiful hats, beautiful suits and crowds of people. Moreover, that all those who spend money on breeding and training horses could come to the track and watch their horses compete live.