At last. It is time once again for the start of the season at Klampenborg Galopbane. And unlike last year it is without corona restrictions. RaceTime has talked to KG’s director Carsten Baagøe Schou. The biggest news is that all tote betting must now take place online. The tote windows have been closed.
What can we learn from last year’s opening day? And who will be the stars at Klampenborg in 2022? A new and exciting season is on the way.
“IT WILL BE A CRACKER OF A SEASON”.
On Saturday 16 April the gates open at Klampenborg Galopbane for a new season. And not everything is as it was last year – fortunately. Last year’s opening day was without spectators, and the corona restrictions continued far into the season. Carsten Baagøe Schou now looks forward to a cracker of a season – especially on the spectator side.
“There is great public interest in the opening day on 16 April, and already 2500 tickets have been sold for this year’s Derby day on 7 August”, Baagøe Schou said. “There will be 21 racedays this year – one more than last year – and a total of six racedays will be staged as Night Racing. Two of the evenings, 10 June and 19 August, are aimed at company parties, and 10 June is already sold out”.
THE END OF CASH.
The biggest news of the new racing year at Klampenborg is that it will no longer be possible to bet at the track. The tote windows are gone, and in future all betting must take place online. “It is a big change”, Baagøe Schou pointed out.
“It is important that we do not leave the punters in the lurch. That is why there will also be staff at the track whose job it is to help the public set up a user profile, if they do not already have one, so that they can bet on their mobile with Derby25 or other betting companies. So remember your NemID or Mit ID on the opening day”, Baagøe Schou stressed. Nor will it be possible to pay in cash in the racecourse restaurants any longer.
THE DERBY BOARDS HAVE BEEN RESTORED.
Attentive spectators will at the same time notice that the first roughly 50 years of the Derby boards on the Royal Grandstand have been restored.
Nostalgia comes flooding back when you look at the Derby boards on the Royal Grandstand. When Pan won the Danish Derby in 1964 it was after a terrific race in which seven horses finished within a length. Pan was trained by Henning Højelse, who had his training quarters at Damgården, and he was ridden by A. Klimscha jr.
The Derby winner in 1970, Soames, was trained by Benny Jensen, who has a race named after him at Klampenborg, and he was ridden by the English top jockey Jack Egan. The ”Irish wizard” William Heavey bred Soames.
THE RESTAURANTS ARE TO BE REFURBISHED TOO
During the interview Baagøe Schou reported that efforts are continually made to maintain and upgrade the buildings. The Paddock restaurant has been painted inside during the winter, and painting outside awaits, when the weather allows. As for the restaurant in the Royal Grandstand, there will be more space available now that the tote windows no longer take up room. The restaurant will therefore undergo a rebuild after the season, so that there is room for more guests.
“The owners’ pavilion has also definitely seen better days, and a project has been started that will probably mean that the ‘Racing Club’, as it is called these days, will be demolished. The beautiful old building will however be rebuilt in a comparable version. The timetable is uncertain, though, as it has to fit with various permits and with the running of the racing season”, Baagøe Schou added.
THROUGH CORONA UNSCATHED.
“If we avoid further corona restrictions, KG has come through the corona crisis unscathed”, Baagøe Schou said. “But it is of course a condition that the Danish Business Authority finally approves the compensation we have received”.
“Now it is time to get going again, and among other things the renovation of restaurants is part of that process. But at the racecourse there is an endless amount of maintenance that has to be carried out. So we constantly have to prioritise”.
“The events business is going well, and it is also that which is to help secure the continued development of the racecourse. Activity rose as early as last autumn, and the outlook is good for this year”.
THE PRIZE MONEY IS BEING INCREASED.
In 2022 the prize money in the majority of the ordinary races is being increased by an average of three per cent, which meets a wish from many owners. That happens even though KG will receive an unchanged prize-money budget from DHV (Dansk Hestevæddeløb) and the operating grant is being reduced by five per cent.
“That is why other activities are so important, if we are to strengthen racing”, Baagøe Schou stressed.
AN UNCHANGED NUMBER OF HORSES IN TRAINING AT KLAMPENBORG.
There are 224 horses in training at Klampenborg. The same number as last year. On the other hand the number of horses at the provincial tracks has fallen by 20 per cent. Baagøe Schou mentioned that the provincial tracks are in many ways a feeder for Klampenborg, and he is uncertain to what extent that will affect the fields at Klampenborg.
Conversely, last year we saw a continued large number of runners from southern Sweden at Klampenborg, and Baagøe Schou expects that to continue. Several trainers in southern Sweden prefer to send their horses to Klampenborg rather than Bro Park.
NEW OWNERS ARE A PRECONDITION FOR THE FUTURE OF RACING.
Baagøe Schou is pleased that more and more people are visiting Klampenborg Galopbane. “We have many young guests with money to spend at the track, and it is important that they feel welcome. It is also necessary that they are informed in various ways about the opportunities and become interested in acquiring racehorses, so that we can get an influx of new owners at Klampenborg”.
“Quite generally we have to think in new and different ways from before”, Baagøe Schou mentioned. “This is a task Dansk Galop must engage in. After all, it is not only at Klampenborg that new owners must be nurtured. The decline in the provinces shows that an effort here is a necessity for the sport’s survival outside Klampenborg”.
“And it is not only owners that are needed, but in particular trainers and jockeys too. New participants can only be created at the tracks, if we are not talking about people moving in from abroad”, Baagøe Schou mentioned.
Three new candidates are standing for the board of Dansk Galop this year. Baagøe Schou sees this as a welcome opportunity to create renewal in the sport’s association and to set the right agenda with the right priorities.
“And we must pay attention to animal welfare, which is a focus area for many young people too. And we should not hate the trotting side. We must cooperate with trotting on jointly looking after the interests of Danish horse racing”.
WHAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR ON THE OPENING DAY?
Alan Thelix’s Barnaby was named Grafter of the Year 2020 by RaceTime, when he ended the year with two wins. And on the opening day last year he continued his winning run.
Sanary, who is in training with Nina Lensvik at Jägersro and is owned by 360 North Horse Racing, won the Åbningsløbet. Sanary had a good season last year, when later in the year he won the Benny Jensen Memorial at Klampenborg ahead of Sandtastic.
This year the now 7-year-old Sanary has been in Dubai, where in his three races in strongly contested fields he was never beaten more than 6 ½ lengths. At the same time it came to a good 70,000 kroner in prize money.
A MAIDEN WIN ON THE OPENING DAY WAS FOLLOWED BY A WIN IN THE MOWERINALØB.
The Bent Olsen-trained Marshi shed her maiden tag on the opening day, and on her next start it came to a win in the year’s first Classic race, the Mowerinaløb, ahead of her stable companion My Vision and My Jamil.
My Vision later won Svenskt 1000 Guineas ahead of Marshi and the later Danish Derby winner Iron Butterfly.And My Jamil won the Danish 2000 Guineas. It will be interesting to follow the three of them in 2022.
Finally Tears In Heaven rounded off last year’s opening day with a win at more than 20 times the money on the tote. “It is often hard to see through the horses on the first raceday”, Baagøe Schou believes, “and that is why the odds are correspondingly good”.
WHO WILL BE THE STARS AT KLAMPENBORG IN 2022?
Niels Petersen, who since last year has been established with a stable at Klampenborg Galopbane, scored a perhaps unbeatable record on last year’s Derby day with his “super seven”. Iron Butterfly won the Danish Derby, and later in the year it also came to a win in the fillies’ Derby for Niels Petersen with Brunello.
Niels Petersen now has 24 horses in training at Klampenborg, and 43 horses at Øvrevoll, and a new Klampenborg championship may be waiting just around the corner. But, but. Klampenborg’s long-standing champion trainer, Bent Olsen, has many exciting horses in the stable, and he will surely have his say in the battle.
And this year too it will be interesting to follow the up-and-coming younger trainers Rikke Bonde, Lea Olsen and the Jägersro trainer Nina Lensvik. Together with the more experienced Bettina Andersen they make up a very interesting female quartet.
CHARMING KNIGHT IS DERBY FAVOURITE.
Who will win the Danish Derby 2022? Maria Westman’s Decorated Knight son Charming Knight, who won Vinterfavoriternes Ærespræmie, is at present a really good bet, and at Klampenborg HesteEjerForening’s stable tour he presented himself well. It will please many if Brian Wilson, who is now back after a long illness, can add another Derby win to a glorious career.
Brian Wilson’s last Derby win at Klampenborg came right back at the beginning of the 1990s, when he won with Mongolian Knight. The last winter favourite to win the Danish Derby the following year was Suspicious Mind in 2015.
His son – and TV star Oliver Wilson – can take home his eighth Klampenborg championship. One of his former rivals Elione Chaves is now gone and in the USA, where he rides in races.
But there are many other big jockey names who are still in fine form: Per-Anders Gråberg, Rafael De Olivera, Nicolaj Stott, Jacob Johansen and Carlos Lopez. And perhaps new talents will turn up. It is reported that Andreas Tapia Dahlbark is to ride for Niels Petersen’s Klampenborg branch.
WILL WE SEE STROXX CARLRAS AT KLAMPENBORG?
The Appel Au Maitre son, the now 9-year-old Suspicious Mind, who was bred at Stutteri Hjortebo, has won the Scandinavian Open Championship (Gr.3) for the last two years. Will he get his third triumph, or is age beginning to tell on Suspicious Mind, who has been in Dubai over the winter?
“It would be pleasing to have a little renewal at the top of the older elite over distance”, Baagøe Schou believes, who would like to see some of last year’s really good 3-year-olds join the Scandinavian elite for older horses.
Last year’s dual Derby winner, Stroxx Carlras, is the obvious candidate. Fortunately it looks from the entry lists as if we will soon see him at Klampenborg. It would also be pleasing to see again the winner of the Danish Derby and the Danish St. Leger 2020, Ready Teddy, if he is ready after a year’s break from racing.
THE DANISH JOCKEY CLUB CUP (L) AND POKALLØB (L) LOOK PROMISING.
Stroxx Carlras’ first start at Klampenborg since his debut in his two-year-old season may come as early as 30 April in the Dansk Jockey Club Cup (L), where a cracker of a race may be in prospect with three horses on a handicap mark of 93 or more.
Elkær Stutteri’s Kick On (94) may here make his Klampenborg debut. Kick On has won six of his nine starts in Scandinavia, among them the Marit Sveaas Minnelöp (Gr.3), and he comes from a creditable fifth place in the Group 2 Singspiel Stakes at Meydan.
Among the entries is also another Dubai traveller, the Klampenborg favourite King David. And among other of Scandinavia’s best over the mile distances that have been entered can be mentioned last year’s winner Match Maker (94).
After the win in the Dansk Jockey Club Cup 2021 Match Maker returned to Klampenborg last year, where he won the Copenhagen Golden Mile and again ahead of King David. Will King David gain revenge this year?
THE BATTLE OF THE DISTAFF.
Last year was marked by several good races between the better Scandinavian mares: Ascot Brass, Havana Red, Careless Whisper, Margrethe and Malekha.
This year they get competition from several mares who did well in last year’s Derby season. The Danish Derby winner Iron Butterfly, the Derby runner-up Go On Carlras and the winner of the Danish Oaks Brunello. They will probably meet in the Dansk Breeders’ Cup on 4 June at Klampenborg.
“But as early as 30 April there is the Sceptre Stakes, where several of the above may clash in a field that on paper is extremely good. I am very much looking forward to that”, Baagøe Schou mentioned. Ascot Brass produced perhaps the finest Scandinavian performance in Dubai this year, and it will be exciting to see her again at Klampenborg.
And perhaps the mares will take on the colts in the Scandinavian Open Championship, which is run on 28 May this year. Havana Red, who is having another season before she goes to stud, won four times last year, and at Klampenborg she won the Fabellaløb with top weight over 2200 metres. Havana Red finished the year on a handicap mark of 89, and she has been entered for the Scandinavian Open Championship.
THE 2-YEAR-OLDS.
Finally there are of course the 2-year-olds, who during the season will attract increasing attention. On 23 July we get the first test between the quick-to-be-ready and better 2-year-olds, when the Produce Stakes is run.
Søren Jensen has a tradition of a strong two-year-old team, and that is the case this year too. In the stable are, among many other very well-bred 2-year-olds, a half-sister to the winner of last year’s Breeders’ Trophy Classic, Good Fortune (Appel Au Maitre) – Juniper Bay (Juniper Tree). A half-sister to the current Derby favourite Charming Knight (Decorated Knight), Queen Of Hearts (Pistaschio), and a Camelot daughter, Got A Lot. The dual Derby winner Camelot is the sire of the unbeaten Luxembourg, who is the current favourite to win the Epsom Derby, as his sire did.
In the stable is also the legendary Lady Clementine’s last foal, Queen Clementine, who, as Lady Clementine was as a racehorse, is owned by Karin Salling.
And when the talk is of 2-year-olds, there are surely many who look forward to seeing Lone Kaj-Nielsen’s 2-year-old Kingman son, who was bought at the Goffs Dubai Breeze Up Sale at Meydan in March this year for 1.6 million kroner.
On 16 April there is racing at Klampenborg again. I am looking forward to it, and I believe, as Carsten Baagøe Schou does, that we will get a cracker of a season.
