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Sunday, Hamburg
Start of 1st race: 11.20 am
Derby meeting in Hamburg-Horn - the gallop festival begins!

The countdown is on and the anticipation is growing by the hour. At 3:45 pm on Sunday, 7 July 2024, the IDEE 155th German Derby will be held at the racecourse in Hamburg-Horn. With prize money of 650,000 euros - including 390,000 euros for the winning team alone - it is not only the most valuable race in Germany, but also the most prestigious from a sporting and breeding perspective. But as important as the Derby, which was run for the first time since 1869 - when it was still known as the 1st North German Derby - may be, there are some real treats for gallop fans in Hamburg even before that.

The Derby meeting comprises five racing days with 51 races organised this year by the Hamburger Rennverein, which was founded in 1852 - almost 40 years before Hamburger SV. The opening race day is next Sunday, with ten races on the programme, including the first of a total of five group races at the Derby meeting. Group races are categorised internationally and are therefore comparable; the German Derby belongs to the highest category, Group I. The Sparkasse Holstein Cup over 1,600m on 30 June is a Gr. III race for three-year-old and older fillies with prize money of 55,000 euros.

After-work race day and the Hansa Grand Prix

Wednesday (3 July) is a special racing day, designed as a compact after-work racing day with six races. The sporting highlight is the A my-bed.eu-Langer Hamburger, a Listed race over the extreme distance of 3,200 metres with prize money of 25,000 euros.
The next few days will be packed again: Eleven races are scheduled on Thursday, 4 July, with the Grand Prix of Lotto Hamburg (Gr.III) over 2,000m, twelve competitions on Saturday, 6 July. The Wettstar.de Großer Hansa-Preis, a Gr.II race with a purse of 70,000 euros, is the highlight.

The best older Grand Prix horses in Germany meet over the Derby distance of 2,400 metres and the list of winners includes many big names in racing - such as two-time Hansa Prize winner Torquator Tasso. He won the most important gallop race in Europe, perhaps the world, in 2021 - the 100th Prix de l' Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Adlerflug offspring Narrativo is the Derby favourite

Torquator Tasso, who is now a stud stallion at Auenquelle Stud, was "only" second in the 2020 Derby and could not quite emulate his sire Adlerflug, who triumphed in Horn in 2007. He was defeated by In Swoop, also an Adlerflug offspring. However, the influence of the stallion from Schlenderhan Stud, who died three years ago, extends to this year's Derby, as the Adlerflug son Narrativo is currently considered the favourite.

Only three-year-old horses are allowed to compete in the Derby on 7 July - stallions and mares. In contrast, the Hamburg Mare Prize (Gr.III, 2,200m) is reserved for three-year-old mares only. Two BBAG auction races for the Derby crop, each with prize money of 52,000 euros - over 1,600m and 2,200m - round off the strong supporting programme of the Derby Day. It is a day that no gallop fan should miss.

Source: Deutscher Galopp