This coming Saturday, the world’s largest folk festival kicks off at the Theresienwiese; five days earlier, the Munich Racing Club is hosting its now-almost-traditional Oktoberfest Race Day. Six horse races and one trotting race are on the program for this after-work event, which begins at 4 p.m. with the MIG-Fonds Prize.
The race for 2-year-olds features an interesting field. Two promising fillies hail from the Cologne area: Great Again, trained by Peter Schiergen, and Davia, ridden by Maxim Pecheur. Both are making their racing debuts. Colori, who is trained locally, brings significantly more experience to the race; he has already raced three times and has placed twice at his home track. His trainer, Michael Figge, has a second starter in Rakaposhi.
The racing club’s long-standing partner, LOTTO Bayern, lends its name to the two most important handicap races of the day, in which the horses carry different weights based on their previous performance. The LOTTO Bayern Grand Prix is run over 2,000 meters, and the Bayernlos Prize over 2,400 meters. Both are Class III handicap races, each with 8,000 euros in prize money, half of which goes to the winner.
Nine in the amateur race
Amateurs will also have another chance to shine in Riem: Nine horses will compete in the Preis der Glücksspirale, a Class IV race over 2,000 meters with a purse of 5,500 euros. The reigning amateur champion in Germany, Frenchman Kevin Braye, will ride the seven-year-old Santino Corleone, who is trained by Gerald Geisler in Iffezheim near Baden-Baden. However, the gelding is carrying top weight—10 kilograms more than the 10-year-old Neriano, who is being prepared for the race in Riem by John David Hillis.
The prince and princess from the Hollaria Augsburg Carnival Society will once again be on hand to present the honorary prizes. Ten thoroughbreds will compete in the Agl. IV race over 1,500 meters. Jutta Mayer, based in Riem, who produced four meeting winners at the Große Woche in Baden-Baden, will enter the four-year-old Amazing Anna and the five-year-old Golden Time—who finished third in a similar race in Baden—into the race.
V7 and V4 with a minimum payout
The Munich Racing Association is once again offering two bets with a guaranteed prize pool: In the V7, where the goal is to pick the winners of all seven races of the day—including the trotting race that closes out the racing day—at least 25,000 euros will be distributed among the winning tickets. In the V4, which begins with the LOTTO Bayern Grand Prix (4th race), the prize pool is still a substantial 10,000 euros.
“It’s our second trotting race of the season,” says Sascha Multerer, managing director of the racing club, about the day’s final race. “The race is wide open—Valesco, Victory Ares, Breeding of Hanke, Belina Times, and Indy are among the favorites.” As always, the racing club is offering a great children’s program with a carousel, a throwing game booth, and a bounce house; the food and beverage stands will also be serving up delicious treats again for the LOTTO Bayern After-Work Race Day.
