Øvrevoll rolls Derby day out again on Tuesday 25 August with five races from 16.50, and the Range Rover Norsk Derby is now the closing contest of the day. The ground staff spent Monday getting the turf track ready, and Niels Petersen has secured German champion jockey Thore Hammer-Hansen for three rides.
After Sunday’s abandonment the ground staff carried out a series of measures on the turf track on Monday, and by Øvrevoll’s own account they are concentrated on the three bends.
The grass has been cut shorter on the bends, and loose and scuffed turf has been blown away. The ground has been trodden back, so damage to the turf has been repaired and put back in place, and it has been aerated with a lawn aerator, which makes small holes in the surface so the grass roots get better access to air, water and nutrients.
Finally, sand has been added to level out and improve the surface. The damaged areas of the turf will be repaired and reseeded once the races have been run.
“The measures have been taken to give the best possible basis for a good and safe track for Tuesday’s races,” Øvrevoll states.
The card begins at 16.50 with the Frederique Constant Ladies & Gentlemen Cup over 1730 metres for amateur riders. Then follow the Alti Stayerløp over 2400 metres at 17.15, the Polar Cup (L) over 1370 metres at 17.40 and Marit Sveaas Minneløp (Gr.3) over 1800 metres at 18.10, before the Range Rover Norsk Derby over 2400 metres is run at 18.35.
The V4 covers the last four races, the DD the last two.
The fresh declarations have brought a couple of changes in the saddle. Thore Hammer-Hansen takes over three rides for Niels Petersen and partners Wassim in the Polar Cup, last year’s Derby winner War Socks in Marit Sveaas Minneløp and Lord Greystoke in the Derby.
The three rides have been through as many hands in two days. Silvestre De Sousa was down for them in Sunday’s racecard, but on Derby day Robert Havlin was in place as his replacement. Havlin has to ride in England on Tuesday and could not stay on at Øvrevoll, and that is why Niels Petersen has secured Thore Hammer-Hansen.
He is not the worst name to land at two days’ notice. Thore Hammer-Hansen is the defending champion jockey in Germany and has won the Deutsches Derby (Gr.1) among much else – and he is the son of Lennart Hammer-Hansen, who won the Norsk Derby three times as a jockey himself: on Bye Bye Loev in 2005, Negra Del Oro in 2006 and Touch Of Hawk in 2009.
In the Derby Miss Alti has also switched from Frida Valle Skar to Eduardo Pedroza.
All 13 horses do, however, remain in the Derby. Both Denmark’s Derby winner Cosmopolitan for Søren Jensen and Niels Petersen’s Lord Of The Moon are in, so the Danish showdown the day promised can still happen – just two days later than planned.
