One of the major horse racing events of the year will bring together Russia's beau monde and equestrian fans at the Central Moscow Hippodrome.
The annual All-Russia Derby Prize will take place Aug. 16, giving women a chance to demonstrate their taste in picking hats, businessmen to do business and betting fans to feel the rush of adrenaline.
"This year, the derby will be more special than ever before because for the first time it will be held as part of the Breeders' Cup Championships program in Russia," said Vita Kozlova, general director of the National Horse Breeders Union, an organizer of the event.
The Breeders' Cup was first created in 1984 as a year-end championship for North American thoroughbred racing, gathering all the different racing events into one consecutive chain with climax in one general final. The event, which is also used to discover the best horses in various categories, later spread to Europe and now to Russia.
This year's Derby Prize in Moscow will be the fifth finishing round of the Breeders' Cup, which started in June. The Russian final, presenting the 12 best horses in the country, or the "golden dozen," will be held Sept. 27.
"This new system will raise domestic races to a new, higher level in terms of organization, prizes and competition heat," Kozlova said.
The heat at the derby, one of Russia's premier racetracks, promises to be intense -- a thoroughbred horse has the opportunity to run the derby only once in his life.
While the prize purse might seem trifling to Western trophy hunters -- 1 million rubles ($42,650) will be offered in prize money, compared with $2.52 million for Britain's Epsom Derby -- the amount has been growing each year.
Its judges stress that Russia is now catching up with the rest of the racing world, where premier racing events are somewhat akin to national holidays.
Russia used to have such a tradition. The derby was first held in 1894 but halted with the Revolution. It resumed in 1925 under the name Big All-Union Prize. At that time, Moscow had two hippodromes, located on the Khodynskoye Field and Begovaya Ulitsa. Since their merger in 1930, the Moscow Hippodrome has been the only place where Muscovites could legally gamble, and races have drawn up to 15,000 people.
The post-Soviet financial difficulties of the early 1990s put domestic horse breeding in jeopardy, but it picked up steam once again with the privatization of horse-breeding farms and the emergence of a growing number of private horse owners and breeders since 2000.
Horse racing events today draw large crowds and Russia's beau monde -- actors, musicians, businessmen and politicians -- and tickets to the derby's VIP area are nearly sold out, organizers said Friday.
Horse racing is well-known for its strict, specific dress code, practiced for centuries, Kozlova said. Suits are obligatory for men, and dresses for women. But the highlight of every horse race are the hats, of course.
Dina Korzun, a prominent theater and movie actress, said she has found the races to be more than a place to showcase fashion. Last year she promoted her leukemia charity, Giving Life, by giving the winners invitations to a charity concert.
For other people, this year's derby will be a chance for a moment of glory. Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, for instance, will watch his own horses race around the track, as will Alexander Khakhonin, head of the National Racing Society. Other participating racehorses belong to billionaire Oleg Deripaska's Voskhod equestrian farm and the Donskoi and Volgogradsky equestrian farms.
Wealthy horse fans, meanwhile, will be looking to buy the best horses, while breeding professionals will be choosing the best horses for breeding.
And everyone will have a chance to place bets. The smallest bet is 10 rubles.
The All-Russia Derby Prize starts at 3 p.m. on Aug. 16 at the Central Moscow Hippodrome, 22 Begovaya Ulitsa. Nearest metro: Begovaya, Tel. 945-0437, web site: www.cmh.ru. VIP tickets cost 4,000 to 5,000 rubles, while regular tickets cost 200 rubles to 500 rubles.
The annual All-Russia Derby Prize will take place Aug. 16, giving women a chance to demonstrate their taste in picking hats, businessmen to do business and betting fans to feel the rush of adrenaline.
"This year, the derby will be more special than ever before because for the first time it will be held as part of the Breeders' Cup Championships program in Russia," said Vita Kozlova, general director of the National Horse Breeders Union, an organizer of the event.
The Breeders' Cup was first created in 1984 as a year-end championship for North American thoroughbred racing, gathering all the different racing events into one consecutive chain with climax in one general final. The event, which is also used to discover the best horses in various categories, later spread to Europe and now to Russia.
This year's Derby Prize in Moscow will be the fifth finishing round of the Breeders' Cup, which started in June. The Russian final, presenting the 12 best horses in the country, or the "golden dozen," will be held Sept. 27.
"This new system will raise domestic races to a new, higher level in terms of organization, prizes and competition heat," Kozlova said.
The heat at the derby, one of Russia's premier racetracks, promises to be intense -- a thoroughbred horse has the opportunity to run the derby only once in his life.
While the prize purse might seem trifling to Western trophy hunters -- 1 million rubles ($42,650) will be offered in prize money, compared with $2.52 million for Britain's Epsom Derby -- the amount has been growing each year.
 For MT A young girl watching a horse race. |  |
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Russia used to have such a tradition. The derby was first held in 1894 but halted with the Revolution. It resumed in 1925 under the name Big All-Union Prize. At that time, Moscow had two hippodromes, located on the Khodynskoye Field and Begovaya Ulitsa. Since their merger in 1930, the Moscow Hippodrome has been the only place where Muscovites could legally gamble, and races have drawn up to 15,000 people.
The post-Soviet financial difficulties of the early 1990s put domestic horse breeding in jeopardy, but it picked up steam once again with the privatization of horse-breeding farms and the emergence of a growing number of private horse owners and breeders since 2000.
Horse racing events today draw large crowds and Russia's beau monde -- actors, musicians, businessmen and politicians -- and tickets to the derby's VIP area are nearly sold out, organizers said Friday.
Horse racing is well-known for its strict, specific dress code, practiced for centuries, Kozlova said. Suits are obligatory for men, and dresses for women. But the highlight of every horse race are the hats, of course.
Dina Korzun, a prominent theater and movie actress, said she has found the races to be more than a place to showcase fashion. Last year she promoted her leukemia charity, Giving Life, by giving the winners invitations to a charity concert.
For other people, this year's derby will be a chance for a moment of glory. Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, for instance, will watch his own horses race around the track, as will Alexander Khakhonin, head of the National Racing Society. Other participating racehorses belong to billionaire Oleg Deripaska's Voskhod equestrian farm and the Donskoi and Volgogradsky equestrian farms.
Wealthy horse fans, meanwhile, will be looking to buy the best horses, while breeding professionals will be choosing the best horses for breeding.
And everyone will have a chance to place bets. The smallest bet is 10 rubles.
The All-Russia Derby Prize starts at 3 p.m. on Aug. 16 at the Central Moscow Hippodrome, 22 Begovaya Ulitsa. Nearest metro: Begovaya, Tel. 945-0437, web site: www.cmh.ru. VIP tickets cost 4,000 to 5,000 rubles, while regular tickets cost 200 rubles to 500 rubles.
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