Berlin-Hoppegarten racecourse: We were at the grand opening of the season at the racecourse in Hoppegarten (Brandenburg) on Easter Sunday, 31 March 2024. The 2024 racing season began in Berlin-Hoppegarten in front of 12,500 spectators with two International Listed races and the presentation of the “Galloper of the Year”.
Highlights of the grand opening of the Berlin-Hoppegarten season and our photos
Andrasch Starke, Germany’s best-known jockey, scored a victory with Mr Hollywood. In the €25,000 Dahlwitz Prize over a distance of 2,000 metres, Starke managed to claim first place just ahead of Rene Piechulek and the horse Fantastic Moon. Lightning Jock, led by Sibylle Vogt and starting as an outsider, finished third, two and a quarter lengths behind the winner.
In the second main event of the day, the co-favourite Peace of Rose triumphed, ridden by Sibylle Vogt, who is regarded as the country’s leading female jockey. The five-year-old mare won impressively by four and a half lengths in the “Preis des Gestütes Lünzen & Friends”, a test over 1,600 metres, against Ithague (Leon Wolff). Third place went to Wild Perfection, ridden by Rene Piechulek, who had been unbeaten in her career up to that point.
