White Turf St. Moritz- 1st racing day, 6th February 2011

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The first racing day of the 2011 White Turf was witnessed by 11,000 spectators on the frozen lake under ideal conditions. The stakes amounted to a total of 92,396 Swiss francs.

The main event, the ‘Grand Prix Guardaval Immobilien’, finished with a local victory by Mascarpone. Even though he is trained in Zurich- Urdorf by Miroslav Weiss, his owners, Wally and Hans Clavadetscher, come from Sils. It was worth seeing how the seven-year-old stallion under Robert Havlin dominated his rivals, thus assuring his participation in two weeks time at the Grand Prix. Arriving four lengths behind, Pont des Arts came second in front of Wassiljew who came third.

The day began with the victory of Rushing Dasher at the ‘Grand Prix Handels und Gewerbeverein St.Moritz’. The nine-year-old, specialised in snow, is trained by Natalie Friberg who also rode the gelding for the Allegra Racing Club stable. Northern Glory (Karoly Kerekes) from the Munich stable of Wolfgang Figge, started for the Salzburg stable of Hans-Gerd Wernicke and won the ‘Grand Prix American Airlines’. He will also participate in the ‘Gübelin 72nd Grand Prix of St. Moritz’ in two weeks time.

The favourites determined the outcome at the ‘Credit Suisse Grand Prix of Celerina’. As expected, a duel took place at the Skikjöring between last year’s winner Gallardo with Leo Lumianti on the leads and King George and his driver Jakob Broger. King George had everything under control toward the end and won with an advantage of three lengths in front of Gallardo. As a result Jakob Broger is looking at a possible eleventh victory at the ‘Credit Suisse Skikjöring-Trophy, a win that would be the fourth final victory with King George.

Credit Suisse, one of the two principal sponsors of the White Turf since 1990, has renewed their contract for another three years until 2014. ‘The White Turf is not only a sports event but also a social highlight that is greatly appreciated by our guests. Besides the breathtaking Alpine setting and equestrian sports at the highest level, our guests are especially fond of the unique atmosphere at the event’, explained Hanspeter Ackermann, the Credit Suisse Private Banking manger of the Engadine, the prolongation of the partnership.

At the first trotting race of the day, the ‘Engadiner Post / Posta Ladina Challenge’, Fleuri Ramuntcho had nothing to loose with trainer and driver Jean-Bernard Matthey on the leads. And at the end of today’s races, Quatuor de Martza with his trainer and driver Renaud Pujol won the ‘Grand Prix Hotelleriesuisse St. Moritz’, in an outstanding fashion after having held the lead throughout the race.