SWITZERLAND: HORSERACING - St Moritz celebrates the 100th anniversary of the White Turf racing festival

The posh ski resort above 6000 ft in eastern Switzerland St-Moritz celebrated this year the 100th anniversary of their White Turf horse racing festival on Sunday (February 18), held on the 50 cm layer of ice of its frozen lake. As always, the biggest attraction for the 13,000 VIP guests in fur coats and large sunglasses was the skijoring contest, where skiers are towed behind galloping horses, in a 2700 meters race. The winner - of the three races that took place over the three week-ends of the festival, was awarded 15,000 swiss francs (9,300 Euro) and crowned King of the Engadine. As expected, Jakob Broger was the skier to clinch the title, for the eighth time in his Skijoring career, and third time in a row with the same horse, King George. "Grandiose! Three times in a row is unbelievable! Three times, this year, with the same horse!" Jakob Broger said, proudly posing with his partner horse at the end line of the circuit. Although skijoring competitions go back a hundred years in St-Moritz, it also was a demonstration sport in the 1928 Winter Olympics. Variations of the sport include skiing on grass rather than on snow. The festival also consists of various competitions, in which professional jockeys come to prove themselves on snow and compete for prizes reaching up to 100,000 swiss francs (62,000 Euro).

ITN Source | February 21, 2007

Tags:. .weekends. .king. .george. .same. .awarded