Oktoberfest begins on Saturday – Munich Racing Club invites you to get in the mood for the traditional Wiesn race day at the Munich-Riem racecourse on Thursday, September 18. Six gallop races and, for the first time in a long while, a trotting race are on the program for the after-work race day, which promises plenty of music, entertainment, and unique chances to win.

The winning and place bets that were not placed on races 1-6 will be entered into a grand prize draw with a total of 20 prizes. The main prize is an invitation to the Oide Wiesn for 10 people! To participate in the prize draw, the bet must be at least 10 euros. After the races, the band “Die Derbies” will create a real Oktoberfest atmosphere.

The first race of the day will start at 4 p.m. Seven two-year-old thoroughbreds will compete in the Parsdorf Horse Clinic Prize. The reigning champion trainer Peter Schiergen will be represented, sending Shejtan into the race. In the saddle will be Germany’s most successful jockey of all time, Andrasch Starke.

Brilliance with duo in top handicap

The best handicap race, in which the horses carry different weights based on their previous performance, is a €11,500 Ausgleich II over 2,000 meters. Half a dozen candidates are running in the MIG Fonds Prize (starting at 6:30 p.m.). Leon and New Diamond, trained locally by Werner Glanz, carry the maximum weight of 60 kilograms (rider and saddle) each, while Wariyano, trained by Stefan Richter in Dresden, has to cope with seven kilograms less. A rule of thumb in horse racing says that one kilogram of extra weight means about a horse’s length advantage.

For bettors, the Munich Racing Club is once again offering the popular V4 bet, which begins with the second race, the Schloss Tüssling Prize over 1,600 meters for winless three-year-old horses, and ends with the amateur race (5th race), the Wirtshaus zur Rennbahn Prize, a Class IV handicap over 2,000 meters. The Carl von Rohrer Vermögensverwaltung Prize (4th race), an Agl. IV over 1,500m, will also feature a four-horse bet. The V4 and four-horse bets are each guaranteed a minimum payout of €10,000.

Trotting races make a comeback in Riem

At the end of the race day, there will be a special spectacle—the first trotting race at Riem Racecourse since 2011. Eighteen horses and their drivers will take part, with a minimum payout of €4,444 in the trifecta.