Vaclav Janacek triumphs in the 81st Westminster Derby at Służewiec
Mounted on the stallion Chestnut Rocket, he covered the distance of 2,400 meters in a time of 2:27.2, setting a track record that was half a second better than the previous one from 2021.
In second place was the bay mare Merveilleux Lapin, ridden by candidate jockey Erbol Zamudin Uulu.
Third place was taken by the bay stallion Bold (jockey Martin Srnec), ahead of Montenegrin (bay stallion, jockey Stefano Mura), Belmond (chestnut stallion, jockey Szczepan Mazur) and Dzielny Wojtek (chestnut stallion, jockey Per-Anders Graberg).
Nineteen horses were entered in the race; the dark bay stallion Grand Prix (jockey candidate Aslan Kardanov) was withdrawn earlier, while the bay stallion Hidden Trump (jockey Sanzhar Abayev) did not finish the race.
The winner outdistanced the second horse by three lengths, while the second one outdistanced the next one by a neck. The competition took place on a slightly elastic track at a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius.
The prize pool was 260 thousand zlotys. The winner received 130 thousand, and the next runners up received 52, 39, 26 and 13 thousand zlotys.
"Last year I didn't win the Derby because my horse Zen Spirit didn't accept the pace. This time Chestnut Rocket didn't make that mistake. I was riding behind the leading group, which included five or six horses. He started the finish a bit earlier. He kept up the pace because he's a very good horse and he really liked the track," Vaclav Janacek told PAP.
Chestnut Rocket is trained by Krzysztof Ziemiański.
On Sunday, Janacek won another race — for the Totalizator Sportowy president's prize — riding the 6-year-old bay stallion Jolly Jumper. The Czech is a six-time champion of his country and Spain.
"The race was decided in the last 500 meters, and Janacek is an outstanding rider," said one of the most distinguished trainers, Andrzej Walicki, after the race.
His tie drew attention. "It's a family heirloom, from before the war, passed down from generation to generation. It always brought me luck on the track," he added.
On Sunday, nine races were held at the Służewiec track. (PAP)
Source of information: Polish Press Agency
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