Santino Corleone is a stately thoroughbred – with a stick size of 1.65 meters, it is overwhelming most of his peers. In terms of sport, the six-year-old gelding from the stable of Gerald Geisler in Iffezheim near Baden-Baden moves in the lower third. Last year the first victory came in the 17th. Throughout the season, he earned 7831 euros in prize money and that at the cost of more than 27,000 euros, but on Easter Monday, his five-member owner community benefited from an innovation in German gallops, the so-called “premium handicap”. On the gallop trace in Munich-Riem, Santino Corleone was at the front of the finish line, but its owners were credited 7500 euros in one fell swoop- more than twice as much as usual in a win in the lowest category “Compensation IV”. After deduction of costs- transport, start and association fee, winning percentage for trainers and riders- the expenses for three months training remain so much left. “This is a step in the right direction,” says Daniel Krüger, Managing Director of the umbrella organization Deutscher Galopp, who distributes over twelve premium handicaps and 15 premium racing days over the year. On the premium racing days, which had its premiere on Easter Monday, every race of the day has to have a minimum doping of 15,000 euros, only this one race. “We are specifically promoting smaller and medium -sized stables and owners who can hope for additional income,” says Krüger, “But” more attractive racing prices should also generate larger starter fields and thereby more attractive betting options that hopefully lead to more betting sales from which the racing associations are financed. ” In short, there should be more money in circulation – with the aim of making a racing horse more attractive again. “Right -wing bag, left pocket” The vast majority of the owners and owners’ communities in Germany have a maximum of two horses. “You do not expect a profit from her hobby, but a contribution to financing the costs through racing prices,” says Krüger. “We support the premium racing days and handicaps on our own strength with funding of 2.2 million euros.” However, much of it is “right bag, left bag”, i.e. a redistribution of the money among the owners. External content activate more money from outside, on the other hand, creates the World Pool, launched by the Hong Kong Jockey Club. A few German races worldwide have been able to be overseas for two years, the additional revenue in part six -digit heights help the racing clubs. This is also necessary, because important key figures have been going into the basement for years. In particular, the number of horses in training is slowly approaching a critical area. Last year there were 1891 English thoroughbreds, almost 200 less than in 2023, a similar decline as in 2022. In addition, many horses are trained in Germany, but run in France, where racing prices are significantly higher. “Most recently, there were almost 40 German starters on the race day in Strasbourg,” says Krüger. Kein good feelings over the Rhine, Geisler, who moved from Vienna to Munich in 2005 and in 2010 to Iffezheim. One reason: the proximity to the French meat pots! “I already have a déjà vu feeling when I now compare the development in Austria 20 years ago with that in Germany,” says Geisler, but a good feeling, because galloping in the neighboring country is on the ground, it is not much better in the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland. “The premium handicaps and racing days are a good idea, but that has to run in the long term in order to be able to plan with it,” says Geisler. “Many initiatives in racing are only short -lived.” The association manager knows the problem, but looks ahead due to work. “It goes through racing prices, we have to continue to screw on that,” says Krüger. This year, the racing clubs want to distribute almost 800,000 euros more than 2024 with 13.8 million euros in prize money. “In addition, we have to make sure that the owners can say, regardless of the performance of their own horse, it was a great experience,” says Krüger. “And we have to put people on the track, which is successful in many places.” The Easter weekend was a good example: A total of around 30,000 visitors watched the races on the three racetracks in Berlin-Hoppegarten, Cologne-Weidenpesch and Munich-Riem.
