International success in Hungarian horse racing

This year was all about the success of Hungarian horse racing, with Nancho writing history in Germany, Esti Fény racing as a Hungarian-bred horse in Australia in 2020, Tour To Paris accumulating victories in France and also comparing his ability with the world’s best English horses at the beginning of 2020 in Dubai.

István Pécsi talked about the current state of Hungarian horse racing and what the future holds for Kincsem Park and the whole industry, opening up to Origo.

Hungarian horse racing has a history that goes back 192 years and has had its ups and downs. Kincsem Park and the infrastructure built around it are rapidly evolving, horses such as Tour To Paris, Hungarian Derby-winning Esti Fény, or super-class Nancho, are gaining international success.

István Pécsi, the managing director of Kincsem Park, said that the 2019 season was a busy one, which is not over yet. Although thoroughbreds will not run until next April, there will be the trotting New Year’s Eve with star guests, great competitions, and a huge party.

In a changing world, however, even this sport with great traditions has to be renewed, which is why for two years now it has been possible to bet online on domestic and international competitions. This is great, especially for the younger fans of the sport. Unfortunately, convenience also means that a certain layer tends to bet on their phones or computers rather than at the racetrack.

“On a global level, it is true in Hungary, too, that it is very difficult to increase the number of visitors on smaller racing days. In such cases, it is already a success if the members of the audience are 1,000-2,000. Festivals, though, are visited by those who usually rather watch races on a screen because there are a lot of interesting programs alongside horse racing,” said the managing director of Kincsem Park.

Currently, the Hungarian races can be watched live on Kincsem Park’s website. While previously, television broadcasted full racing days, this year, they only reported on the festivals.

This is likely to be the case next year, but there are plans to launch a thematic channel on horse racing. Like in 2019, Sport TV will broadcast a big portion of the French Kincsem+ races next year, with a half-hour introduction program around them. It is clear from Pécsi’s words that by the second half of 2020, the horse racing TV channel could be launched under the name Kincsem+. The negotiations have already begun, and with the plan realised, it would be much easier to promote horse racing.

Also an essential part of the development is to ensure the appearance in as many areas as possible. In England, a whole press industry is built around horse racing, enough to mention newspapers like Racing Post, but in Hungary, there are only a few options, even though quick and easily accessible information, preferably via the Internet, is essential for young people. Progress has been made in the sense that online betting is now possible. According to István Pécsi, in the future, Hungarian races will strive to make as much information available to the betters as possible.

The YouTube channel is also gaining popularity, with all of the Hungarian races being posted, making them easy to access.

In a regional comparison, the position of Hungarian horse racing is good and belongs to the forefront. Among the V4 countries, the Czechs are the best, and the number and quality of racing horses are excellent. Poland has already been overtaken in many respects, and we are much more successful on an international level. After Nancho’s Group 3 win in Germany, he won the Group 1 Waldgeist Grosser Preis von Bayern, which is unprecedented in the history of domestic horse racing, as we have never had a Group 1 winner.