Winnings from races abroad play a very major role in the budgets of Czech and Czech-registered owners. There is probably no country on the planet where winnings from foreign racecourses are so significant for racehorse owners in comparison with the prizemoney won at home, and where the winnings abroad are so much greater than the amount available to be won at the racecourses at home. The countries in which Czech and Czech-registered owners improve their bank balances have changed over the last 26 years, since Czechoslovakia was divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. However, Slovakia remains a constant.

The lion’s share of the prizemoney won in Slovakia by Czech-trained horses went to Arcturus, owned by Meridian and trained by František Holčák (not far from the Slovak border). Arcturus won the Slovak triple crown. Czech-trained Kristian finished second in the Slovak Derby, and Slovak Oaks winner Falcon Baby, was also trained in the Czech Republic. The Slovak One Thousand Guineas was won by Hungarian-trained Rikoleta, so Slovak owners did not take any of their home classics.

The attractiveness for foreign owners of races run in Slovakia, especially the Turf Gala meeting and the Slovak Derby meeting, both held at Bratislava racecourse, is confirmed by the statistics gathered by Fitmin & TURF Magazín on the basis of last year’s Slovak owners’ championship. According to this data, an overall total of € 699 755 was paid out in prizemoney for Slovak racing, of which € 336 265, i.e. 48.05%, was distributed to owners registered outside Slovakia.

The biggest share went to Czech owners, who took ¾ of all prizemoney that left Slovakia, and 36% of all the prizemoney paid out in Slovakia. Czech owners were followed by Hungarians, Austrians and also Bulgarians. Two Bulgarian owners ran their hoses in Slovakia last year, but only Levent Nezirov, owner of Darling, placed third in the Carpathian Stakes, won any money. Horses with owners from 8 countries, plus Slovakia, ran in Slovakia last year. Interestingly, German owners, who used to take horses regularly to both of the big race days, with great success, did not win even a single euro this year. (miv)

Prizemoney paid out for races in Slovakia, according to the country in which the owner is registered

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Adapted from an article in Czech language by Miloslav Vlček, editor of Fitmin & TURF Magazín, which appeared a few days ago on the Fitmin&TURF webpages. https://dostihy.fitmin.cz/cesti-kone-v-zahranici/36-centu-z-kazdeho-eura-slovenskych-dotaci-ziskaji-ceske-staje-na-domaci-loni-zbyla-jen-polovina-vsech-cen.html. Translated by Robin.