14 triple-crown holders in the Służewiec Racecourse history

14 TRIPLE-CROWN

HOLDERS IN THE SŁUŻEWIEC RACECOURSE HISTORY

The title of the Triple-Crown horses was first used to describe the winners of three classic races: 2000 Guineas over 1 mile distance, Derby - 1½ miles and St. Leger - 1¾ miles in the motherland of modern racing - England. In Poland their equivalents are the stakes of Ruler (1600 m), Derby (2400 m) and St. Leger (2800 m). Over the course of 77 seasons at the Służewiec Racecourse (of which one was shortened due to the outbreak of World War II in 1939, and 76 in the post-war period), a total of 14 three-year-old horses earned the title including 13 stallions and the mare Dżamajka (in 2000). Since 1987 the Polish edition of St. Leger is also open to older horses, but so far there has only been one race that saw a victory of a derby winner from the previous year (Fabulous Las Vegas two years ago).

AUTHOR: JAN ZABIEGLIK PHOTOS: TOR WYŚCIGÓW KONNYCH SŁUŻEWIEC, EDYTA TWARÓG

Here is the list of Triple-Crown Horses presented in a chronological order:

1948

RUCH (AVANTI - ROSA NERA BY NEKTAR), bred by R. Jeżewska. In 24 races from 1947 through 1950 he won 12 times. As a two-year-old he won the Borowna Stakes, which was later renamed as the Mokotowska Stakes. After winning Three Crowns he performed in the Great Warsaw Race and yielded to the famous Turysta. However, he got his revenge in this race the following year. The trainers of the stallion Ruch were Jan Paszkiewicz and Józef Dorosz. At the age of 3 he was ridden by Aleksander Fomienko and Kazimierz Jagodziński. He was called „Diablo” because of his specific looks, but he had a beautiful wife other jockeys were jealous of.

1961

SOLALI (SKARB - SOLINA BY

AVENTI), bred by SK Kozienice. He was a son of Skarb, unbeaten in 1938 at the age of 2 (he set a record at 1,200 CZERKIES (1974) m, 1’11”) and the outstanding mare Solina by Aventi. Solali’s parents are commemorated through the stakes of Skarb for 2-year-olds and Solina for 3-year-old mares. He started 11 times, recording 8 victories, including prizes won as a 2-year-old: Minister of Agriculture and Sofia at the International Meeting in Warsaw in 1960. As a 3-year-old he also won the Iwna Stakes. At the age of two he was trained by Dr. Aleksander Falewicz and as

INTENS (2011)

a three-year-old by his debut trainer Mirosław Stawski. It was Władysław Biesiadziński who won three crowns with him.

1972

DIPOL (ANTIQUARIAN - DOSTOJNA BY DORPAT), bred by SK Widzów. At the age from 2-4 he ran 17 times, winning nine times. He also won at the Iwna Stakes and the Great Warsaw Race. His trainer was Józef Paliński and he was ridden by Stanisław Dzięcina, the tallest of Służewiec jockeys (he was 175 cm tall), who after taking over the trainer’s post triumphed in the Derby three times: Iranda (1976), Skunks (1979) and Demon Club (1981). Coach Paliński won the Derby three more times: 1980 - Sinaja; 1982 - Otmar and 1987 - Solozzo.

1974

CZERKIES (EROTYK - CZEREMCHA BY MERRY MIN-

STREL), bred by SK Kozienice. When trained by Maciej Janikowski he won 10 out of 11 races he started in, including the Stakes of the Capital, Mokotowska, Strzegom, and a year later Widzów and that of the Prime Minister. The only loss was the second place in the Iwna Stakes. It was jockey Jan Filipowski who claimed all the victories with Czerkies.

1989

KREZUS (PYJAMA HUNT - KRESYDA BY DERSŁAW), bred by Golejewko Stud. As a two and three year old, trained by Mirosław Stawski, he competed in 10 races, claiming 8 victories. He won the Budapest Stakes (as a two-year-old). In races abroad, he also won the Moscow Stakes at the last Socialist Games in Berlin. In the Derby he set a record of 2’28” for the course over a distance of 2,400 m. This result was later also achieved by Dancer Life in 2002 and only improved in 2015 in the race for the Widzów Stakes by the horse of Wojciech Olkowski, the five-year-old Espadon who recorded the time of 2’27.8”.

1992

MOKOSZ (UNOAPRILE - MABELL BY BEHISTOUN), bred by SK Rzeczna. He raced 12 times at the age of 2 and 3, scoring victories in 6 races, including the Iwna Stakes. Mokosz was trained by Piotr Czarniecki and ridden mainly by jockey Vyacheslav Szymchuk. “Everybody was awe-struck when he started winning as he did not have a good background as a horse from the Rzeczna Stud, forgotten by God and people, but where his breeder, engineer Tadeusz Pietrzyk, did a great job”, said Piotr Czarniecki.

2000

DŻAMAJKA (JUROR - DŻAMIRA BY RUTILIO RUFO), bred by SK Widzów. She made her debut at the age of 2, but she did not participate in important races. She proved her class as a 3-year-old, winning all 7 of her appearances confidently and easily: in Ruler, Iwna, Derby, Oaks, St. Leger and the Great Warsaw Race. As a four-year-old she won the Stakes of Golejewko, Kozien-

ice and the Grand Stakes of Slovakia in Bratislava. In total, she ran 13 times at the age from 2 to 4, winning 11 races. She was trained by Bogdan Strójwąs and ridden, except for her debut, by the „king of the racecourse” Tomasz Dul.

2002

DANCER LIFE (PROFESSIONAL - DYKTATORKA BY

KASTET), bred by Marian Pokrywka, who ran a stud together with his wife Barbara in the suburbs of Jelenia Góra. During two seasons he started 12 times, claiming 6 victories. His trainer was Andrzej Walicki and he was ridden in the most important races by Janusz Kozłowski, who came in fourth at Iwna. „It was my first Triple-Crown horse after 31 years of my career”, highlighted Walicki. Thanks to Dancer Life The Pokrywkas finally managed to make some money as they sold him to England for over 200 thousand dollars. Prior to that Barbara had to finance her husband’s passion with the income from the boutique she ran in the center of Jelenia Góra.

2005

DŻESMIN (PROFESSIONAL - DŻAKARTA BY

APRIZZO), bred by Marian Pokrywka, trained by Walicki. He raced 11 times during 2 seasons, winning 8 races including the Stakes of Dakota and Mokotowska. It was then that Walicki recorded his first derby double, as Sodana came in second. „Dżesmin was a middle-class horse. He was lucky to win the third crown, because another of my horses, San Luis, was in the lead in the race, but he gave up when whipped in the last 100 meters”, said Walicki. It was Alexander Reznikov who rode Dżesmin.

2007

SAN MORITZ (ROULETTE - SANTA MONIKA BY WHO

KNOWS), bred by SK Widzów - Krzysztof Tyszko. Walicki’s third Triple-Crown horse. In 11 starts he claimed 8 victories. At the age of 3 he also won the stakes of Strzegom, Iwna and Kozienice. He won the Derby ridden by Piotr Piątkowski surprisingly easily. Unfortunately, he only did well at the Służewiec Racecourse. In Hoppegarten he finished 10th and his star died out quickly. As a four-year-old he ran only once in the Rzeczna stakes and came in sixth.

2011

INTENS (BELENUS - INICJATYWA BY JUROR), bred by Roman Piwka and trained by Krzysztof Ziemiański. He raced 8 times when he was 2-3 years old and won 7 races. He demonstrated his true class in the Derby with Tomáš Lukášek, winning easily by 12 lengths against 17 horses.

VA BANK (2015)

He also won easily in the same style and by a large margin with the same rider in the St. Leger and the Great Warsaw Race. You can read more about Intens in the article: The Magic and Secrets of the Derby.

2015

VA BANK (ARCHIPENKO - VINALES BY DILSHAAN), bred by Airlie Stud (IRE). He was chosen by trainer Maciej Janikowski at the Tattersalls auction and purchased by Janusz Piotr Zienkiewicz and Balatbek Abdrakhmanov for only 4,500 euro. He was an extraordinary horse, who won 11 races in a row at Służewiec (including 10 races outside of the group) and 1 abroad (gr. III in Baden-Baden). In the most important races he was ridden by the Swedish champion Per-Anders Graberg.

2017

BUSH BRAVE (BUSHRANGER - MORICHES BY

ALHAARTH), bred by E. Banahan (IRE). Dariusz Jaskólski bought him for 1800 euro at the Tattersalls auction and entrusted him to Wojciech Olkowski for training. He was the favorite for the winter Derby. At the age of three, in addition to winning three crowns, he also won the Great Warsaw Race. He came in second by 2 lengths behind Velnelis in the Iwna Stakes but easily beat him by 6 lengths in the Derby. He was ridden by Tomáš Lukášek. After winning in the Golejewko Stakes at the age of 4, he suffered an injury and did not get back to racing. Now he is a sire.

2018

FABULOUS LAS VEGAS (AIR CHIEF MARSHAL -

COLEENE BY KINGS BEST), bred by R. Reveillere and V. Teillard, (FR), owned by: Joanna, Emilia and Magdalena Traka.

The second Triple-Crown horse of Krzysztof Ziemiański. After the 4th place in Strzegom he delivered a surprising win in the Ruler Stakes, marking an excellent time of 1’36,3”. Then he won comfortably in the Iwna Stakes, but came close to being defeated in the Derby by Cape Ducato. Fortunately Szczepan Mazur made a brilliant move and Fabulous Las Vegas came in first by a neck.

He came in third in the Great Warsaw Race behind the mares Rain and Sun and Santa Klara. At the age of four he won the Widzów Stakes and the Chairman’s of Totalizator Sportowy Stakes, as well as the St. Leger Stakes for the second time (as the first older horse). In 2020 he did not start due to an injury. At the beginning of June this year he came back on the track.

BUSH BRAVE (2017)