This is how the 10th National Gallop celebrated its jubilee
According to vagta.hu, the stands of the 10th National Gallop were full on both racing days on Heroes’ Square. The traditional horse-race moved hundreds of Hungarian settlements this year. The best riders of twenty pre-gallops got the chance to represent their hometown last weekend at the biggest modern time horse-race of the Carpathian Basin.
The National Gallop is not an ordinary horse-race, because horsemen and horses compete for the glory of their hometown in an exclusive location: a racecourse built around the Millennial Monument. The unique track and the stands, which were built in 12 hours, evoke the atmosphere of Roman arenas on Hungary’s most famous square.
The additional programmes of the National Gallop, like the Adrenalin Carriage Pushing Race or the Charity Star Race, have become quite prestigous races in the past years. The former one was won by the team of Kocs, who were followed by the team of Tata and the team made up of the soloists of the Operetta Theatre and kayakers.
Similarly to last year, Imre Sipos triumphed at the OTP Bank Charity Star Race, thus setting a record by becoming the first title defender. The actor-director donated the 500 thousand forints offered by OTP Bank to the Hungarian Horse Theraphy Association. The other four contestants donated 200 thousand forints to the charities they picked.
The National Gallop finds it important to also introduce the future generation, this is why the Small Hussar Gallop was created a few years ago. It goes just like the main race, only with young riders. The winner of the race was Viktória Viszus representing Fülöpháza, Tamara Vörös representing Csetény came in second, while Mercédesz Mórocz, the rider of Orosháza, won the bronze medal.
The riders of other countries and continents are also interested in the National Gallop. The horsemen of 12 countries entered this year’s International Race and competed with the famous horses of the Bábolna National Stud Farm. The riders of China, Serbia, Suriname, Uzbekistan, Czech Republic and Hungary made it into the final, where the Chinese contestant triumphed.
The semifinals of the traditional race were already full of tension, so an exciting battle was expected in the final, which featured Tamás Petrik from Csemő, János Németh from Baja, Arnold Nagy from Temerin, Ferenc Kun from Füzér and László Hajdú from Debrecen.
The final race was very intense. Last year’s champion Ferenc Kun tried very hard to defend his title, but the rider of Csemő, Tamás Petrik came before him in the end.
Featured image: MTI
Ce: bm
Source: http://vagta.hu/