H, for HORSE RIDING

The Derby is the haute école of horseraces.

Countries are entitled to

host only one Derby per year, on

which the 3 years old mares and stallions

measure their abilities in a coeducated

race. Only those English thoroughbreds

are allowed to participate on a derby whose

parents are listed in the thoroughbred

Stallion Book carried in England.

In Hungary, the one horserace with the

highest prestige is the Hungarian Derby

on which the rules are strict and worthy

to the magnitude of the race. This is

a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for every

horse where there is no opportunity to

ameliorate. The number of starter horses

depends on the size of the racetrack but

shall never be greater than 24. In the Kincsem

Park the maximum number of starter

horses allowed is 20. These horses, the

best of Hungary, have to prove themselves

on 2400 meters on the Hungarian Derby,

during which the experts examine them to

determine which one would be the best to

serve the highest possible improvement of

the kind and the sport.

As each activity concerning horses, the

horse sports qualify to be rather expensive.

This involuntarily leads to a type of selection

on those lucky enough to have a close

experience of the beauty of this noble

sport. Racehorses usually have one owner,

but in case of syndicates they have more.

This means that the owner, in addition to

the purchase price, undertakes the cost of

the maintenance and racing of the horse

and establishes a suitable team that consists

a jockey and a trainer. Besides these he covers

the price of the vet and other costs of

the horse. Naturally the expenses do not

grow alone, as if the horse manages to win,

the owner receives 80 percent of the prize

and the trainer and the jockey receive the

remaining 20 percent together.

Each owner and each stall are represented

by a jersey of unique colour and pattern,

for the racers to be

easily distinguishable

on the racetrack. The

rules allow a jockey

to rush for more than

one stalls, but he shall

wear the colours of

the horse he is currently

racing.

It is of no rarity that

the owners, instead

of representing their

racing horses by their

own names, use a name of incognito or the

name of the company.

The greater and most wanted racehorse owners

of Hungary:

• Gyö rgy Deá k – Á lmodó Istá lló

• Tamá s Sikló si – ESDE Bt.

• Gá bor Pá lfi – Telivé r Farm

• Lá szló Horvá th – Szenttamá si Mé nes

• Bá bolna Nemzeti Mé nes – Dió spuszta

Istá lló

The role of the above-mentioned trainer is

outstandingly important in terms of the carrier

of the horse. One has to possess a trainer

certifi cate and undertake responsibility

for the professional keeping, the training and

the racing of the horse. It is the trainer’s duty

to apply the horse to races appropriate to its

abilities and to properly get it ready for those.

The trainer is the person that determines

the tactics used during the race that he is to

announce to the jockey in the stall before the

beginning of the race.

When it comes to trainers, it is necessary to

mention the name of Zakariá s Aperianov

who assisted his rightfully famous horse,

named Imperial, to win the Hungarian Derby

17 times.

Outstanding further Hungarian trainers are:

• Gá bor Maronka

• Sá ndor Ková cs

• Sá ndor Ribá rszki

• Csaba Zala

• Ró bert Fé zer

Jockeys, or horse racers are indispensable

members of the team. It is their job to ride and

train the horse entrusted to them not only during

the laps but also during the preparation

period, and assist them to the most honourable

place possible, with the instructions of the

trainers.

They jockeys are to be scaled before and after

the race as strict rules regulate the weight they

have to be to sit on the back of the horse. It

shall be mentioned that the weight restriction is

adjusted to the gender of the horse and not the

rider, that is the following: stallions shall carry

no greater weight than 57 kilograms while it is

only 55.5 kilograms in case of mares.

Based on the achievements of 2019, the best

Hungarian jockeys are:

• Georgiev Stanislav

• Gá bor Bakos

• Csenge Sutá k

• Viven Mocsinka

When talking about Derby, one shall

not bypass the main characters of

this sport who became symbols due

to their peaking performance. These ones with

four legs did fi ght subduing even themselves,

with power over man for the highest step of

the stand.

Kincsem: The unbeatable wonder-mare was

born in Tápiószentmárton on the estate of

Ernő Blaskovich in 1879. Kincsem participated

on races in England, Austria, Deutschland,

France and the Czech Republic beside

Hungary. He started on 13 racecourses at 54

occasions and won 54 times. Based on his unmatched

performance

he became famous

all-around Europe

and wore the titles of

“Hungarian miracle”,

“Hungarian wonder”,

and “Wonderstute”.

As it was said by Gyula

Krúdy in 1926:

“It was Kincsem who

awakened the enthusiasm

of Hungarian

aristocrats to breed steeds similar to the

wonder-mare as an intention to enhance

the reputation of the Hungarian horse-

breeding worldwide. All those people

including Izidor Majthé nyi, the Baltazzians,

Bé la Zichy, Antal Dré her, Gusztá v

Springer, Lá szló Teleki, Antal Apponyi,

Gá spá r Geist, Mikló s Luczenbacher, the

Rothschilds, the Sigrayans, Wenckheimeks,

Esterhá zys, Harká nyis, Rohonczy,

and Szemer were basically breading and

raising foals in the past fi fty years to catch

up with Ernő Blaskovich.”

Imperiál: he was born in 1960 on

the area of a stud-estate under the

hands of breeder József Rádoki. He

was one of the most outstanding racehorses

of the 20th century came fi rst on 20

starts out of 25 and second on two. He

was not promised a great future by the

experts when being a foal as being too vivid

and looking unlike usual thoroughbreds.

Despite these he managed to start

on the Derby of Austria, Hungary, on the

Prize of Socialist Countries and twice on

the Prize of Austria. His greatest success

is a second place on the Grand Prize of

Baden-Baden.

Overdose: Unlike those above, Overdose

is not one of the wonder-horses bred

in Hungary, he was born in England. In

2006, on an auction in Newmarket Zoltán

Mikóczy Slovakian businessman was the

only one to offer a more signifi cant prize

after a weak bidding. The foal of – for fi rst

– uncharacteristic look was bought for

3000 euros and for the rather great pride

of the owner, his estimated price reached

5 million euros (about 1.5 billion HUF)

by 2009. On the fi rst 14 races he started

on, Overdose could never be defeated,

and he came fi rst on 15 races out of his

whole 18.

At the end, the reader might not know

where the name of the frequently mentioned

Derby stems from.

In 1781 the Earl of Derby city made a

bet with English aristocrat Sir Charles

Bunbury concerning the speed of their

horses. The stake was no other, but the

trophy entitled to the winner and the loser

could name the race. I think it is no

question who the trophy and who the naming

was entitled to.