For the first time in a dozen or so years, when announcing the season in Służewiec, which is to open this coming Saturday, I am faced with a dilemma. While I would love to give in to excitement, facts and numbers unfortunately won’t allow me. Compared to last year’s season, as many as 52 fewer horses were entered (2023 – 336 horses, including 107 foreign-bred; 2024 – 284, 63 foreign). However, these figures are no longer up to date, as at least a dozen or maybe more horses mentioned in Bulletin No. 1 have not arrive at their stables yet and it remains unknown whether they will join us at all. We also don’t know yet when exactly or how the issue of the series of races, held last year under the patronage of the National Centre for Agricultural Support (KOWR), will be resolved. And there are at least 70 horses meeting the special criteria, i.e. not having at least one of the six stallions in their pedigrees: Amer (SA), Baroud III (FR), Burning Sand (US), Dragon (FR), Saint Laurent (FR) and Tiwaiq (SA) – mainly from the Polish state stud farms: Janów Podlaski, Michałów and Białka. I cite Paweł Gocłowski’s statement concerning this subject at the end of this article. For those who are unfamiliar with him, he’s the new president of the Polish Jockey Club (PKWK).
What a surprise! Cornelia Fraisl is back in Skarżyce, but only training 10 Arabians!
Cornelia Fraisl won the 2022 Trainers’ Championship in great style: with 50 wins, she overtook Adam Wyrzyk, the grandmaster of this competition who had previously won this champion six title times in a row (he had 41 wins that year). Meanwhile, from the beginning of last season, stories were circulating that Janusz and Michał Romanowski were going to sell their stud and the horses in Skarżyce would be trained by Cornelia Fraisl only until the Derby Stakes. And yet she worked until October and was once again among the ranking leaders. Ultimately, after the 2023 season, she was classified ex æquo in third place with Krzysztof Ziemiański – 28 victories each. Adam Wyrzyk won with 61 victories, followed by Maciej Jodłowski with 37.
Come autumn, Cornelia left for her hometown of Vienna and it seemed that her 17-year-long adventure in Poland was over. As it turned out, the Romanowskis would not give up owning horses for good that easily, and therefore… racing. For the 2024 season, they entered four thoroughbred two-year-olds, including three of their own breeding, and 10 purebreds, one of them foreign-bred, the well-known to racing regulars Dutch stallion: Storm ‘OA’ bred and owned by RAG Kolk van Meerveld. The other Arabians include two five-year-olds, the gelding Kito and the mare Kiki, and seven three-year-olds, and they were bred by FORTUM Michał Romanowski and are owned by Aero Pegasus Sp. z o.o.
Maciej Kacprzyk’s stables – a new powerhouse?
Judging by the entries, this might be a promising season for Maciej Kacprzyk’s stables. The older Arabians are particularly strong, of which two horses owned by Rafał Płatek stand out: Ocean Al Maury and Zenhaf, last year’s winners of the Europe and Ofir Stakes respectively, Salasbil II (1st in the Traf Warsaw Mile), and Monaasib who is to compete already at the season’s inauguration in the Skowronek Stakes over a distance of 2000 m, a race advanced for the first time ever to the 2nd group. Ocean and Zenhaf will take part in the most important races over longer distances, while Salsabil II, who is a double track record holder for 1400 (1’31.6″) and 1600 m (1’45.5″), and Monaasib are better suited for races up to 2000 m. Al Jassim can also prove a valuable asset in group races.
The four-year-old stallions Bad Guy Pompadour and Winameer de Thouars, well known to Służewiec regulars, as well as Fifre Al Maury (who is not mentioned in Bulletin No. 1 because he was registered at a later date) should also achieve noteworthy results. Their trainer intends to enter all three to the UAE President Central European Cup Arabian Derby taking place on 7th July during the Służewiec Derby Gala. Azzam Al Khalediah is intended for the Polish Derby, which according to the race calendar will take place on 28th July.
Maciej Kacprzyk is currently training 12 three-year-olds: seven foreign-bred and five Polish-bred (the remaining young horses listed in Bulletin No. 1 have not arrived yet). Among the foreign mares, the ones that stand out are Laas de Faust and Legende du Pouy and the stallion Sahil du Panjshir. When it comes to Polish three-year-olds, the most interesting are three horses sired by the son of the legendary stallion Tiwaiq, the stallion Muqatil Al Khalidiah who won the first edition of the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan – European Award in 2010 from pillar to post, in a record time for 2600 m – 2’56.3″. These are Elnizo out of Elniza and Wiktus out of Wenus GI, bred by Jan Głowacki, and Siscario out of Sabella, bred by Bogdan Maślanka.
Who else has an Arabian trick up their sleeve?
In the group of five-year-old and older Arabians, apart from the above-mentioned racing giants trained by Kacprzyk, there are only two “Alkhalediahs” left, both trained by Janusz Kozłowski: Rasmy and Wasmy who enjoy medium distances the most, Gensik – last year’s end-of-season revelation trained in Wrocław by Michał Borkowski and winner of the 2023 Wielki Szlem and Criterion Stakes, the afore-mentioned Storm ‘OA’ (winner of President Cup Mondial Europe 2023 in Wrocław), and Lex – trained by Sergey Vasyutov, last year’s blue ribbon winner. Sharm El Sheikh (trained by Maciej Janikowski), Almared (Krzysztof Ziemiański), Ben Mark (Kamila Urbańczyk) and the Derby winner from 4 years ago Wielki Dakris (Adam Wyrzyk ) also stand a chance for a number of wins. The last one of that group is a horse full of “character”. If he doesn’t get along with the rider, he won’t want to race. Last season, he only started racing in the autumn in the Wielki Szlem Stakes and he apparently felt like a fish out of water on the slightly flexible track, finishing 111 lengths behind the penultimate horse. However, within six weeks he managed to achieve such high form that perhaps – under a more seasoned than the talented young Kyrgyz Kuma Dogdurbek Uulu – he could’ve even won (he was almost fourth).
Among the four-year-olds, the Danish-bred gelding Lindahls Anakin owned by A. Lindahls and trained by Claudia Pawlak seems to have the greatest chance in battles against older horses. After taking fourth place in his debut, he won three races in a row with a large advantage: Borek, Europejczyk and Białka Stakes. Being a gelding, he couldn’t race in the Sambor Stakes. In Criterion, he was close to third behind Gensik and Zenhaf. His main target will probably be the UAE President Central European Cup Arabian Derby (2000 m).
However, there is no definite favourite for the Polish Derby over a distance of 3000 m. The only horse outside the group (in category B) is Clara Al Khalediah, bred and owned by Polska AKF, trained by Michał Borkowski. As a three-year-old, she won three races (including the PZHKA Award). However, she is a nervous mare who took the last 10th place in the 2023 Criterion. The distance of 3000 m could be too difficult for her to overcome, so she will most likely train for Oaks (2400 m), as she has no dangerous competitors among Polish mares. The Derby favourites should include the stallions that won the first group races: Fragmar (bred and owned by Monika Stelmaszczyk, trained by A. Wyrzyk) and Maximus (bred by M. Żarski, owned and trained by Andrzej Urbanowski).
Sergey Vasyutov trains Tomasz Mikołajczyk’s horses in Służewiec
On 31st January 2024, trainer and still great rider Sergey Vasyutov finished working at the racing stables in Janów Podlaski. Since mid-March, he has been preparing five Arabians bred and owned by Tomasz Mikołajczyk. These are: the revelation of last season, the Derby winner Lex (Sartejano – Lillij Ann / Makfoul du Breuil) and the five-year-old Williams (Sartejano – Wielka Damira / Ontario HF), who has already returned to normal training after a tendon injury; Williams’ four-year-old sister, Wenah, who is yet to make her debut; and two three-year-olds: Lex’s half-brother, Largo Winch (No Risk Al Maury – Lillij Ann / Makfoul du Breuil) and Julius (Murhib – Jaleelat Al Khalidiah / Tiwaiq).
“I hope that I will be able to prepare Lex for the Bandos Stakes in the second half of May, while Williams will run in group races, over medium rather than longer distances. The debutante looks promising, as do the two three-year-old colts Julius and Largo Winch, who have good foreign pedigrees,” told us Vasyutov.
Petro Nakoniechnyi now trains the horses in Janów Podlaski
As of 1st February, Vasyutov was replaced in Janów by the Ukrainian trainer and rider Petro Nakoniechnyi, who previously ran a stables in Wrocław.
“Of the older Arabians, only the good Serafina and the weaker Sofronia remain. Szecherezada on the other hand was sold. I am mainly preparing a large group of three-year-olds, more or less two dozen of them, with show pedigrees, but I also have four horses in my stable, sired by Muqatil Al Khalidiah. The stallions Serir and Wixon currently look better than the mares Wella and Szanti. The mare Emiko also has a racing pedigree, bred and owned by my wife Anna, who helps me work with horses,” commented Nakoniechnyi and added: “I must stress the fact that Arabians from Janów are behind the schedule in training this year and will start competing only in the second half of the season. The only exception may be Serafina, who did well at the age of three.”
Will the series of races under the patronage of KOWR be continued?
Last season, exterior races intended mainly for Polish-bred horses were replaced by races under the patronage of KOWR, or the National Centre for Agricultural Support. Three-year-old Arabians could take part in them if they met certain conditions, that is, they did not have at least one of the following six stallions in their pedigrees: Amer (SA), Baroud III (FR), Burning Sand (US), Dragon (FR), Saint Laurent (FR) or Tiwaiq (SA). We turned to Paweł Gocłowski, the new president of the Polish Jockey Club for the answer to the question posed at the beginning of this article. Below is his statement:
“There are currently talks underway regarding the continuation of last year’s series (then under the patronage of KOWR) of special races for three-year-old Arabian horses. I hope they will be finalised as soon as possible and the series will also be organised in the 2024 season. My opinion on this matter is as follows. Ultimately, I would like to have two types of races for purebred horses in all age groups, namely open and special races intended for horses without specific stallions, currently six, in their pedigrees. However, I do not rule out keeping several non-group races in the annual plan, such as the Janów Stakes, Derby and Oaks, with conditions limiting participation in them to domestically-bred horses entered in the Polish Arabian Studbook PASB. In my view, such a division does not require external financing, hence my proposal to always use the name “special races” described in the regulations. However, if such an opportunity arises, it is worth using it and adding information about the sponsors. I also believe that such a simple and permanent division will satisfy the vast majority of breeders and owners of purebred horses, although certainly not all of them. The number of races in individual age groups and categories would, of course, be correlated with the number of horses entered to run in a given year. I hope that I will be able to convince the organisers of races on tracks in Warsaw, Wrocław and Sopot to adopt this solution.
