'The high prize is like a magnet' - how 'Poland's Arc' is fighting for attention on the European scene with a bumper purse

In a country where Flat racing rarely makes international headlines, the Wielka Warszawska stands out. The race is worth more than £106,000 (520,000 PLN), an extraordinary four per cent of Poland’s annual prize-money.

A purse as big as that for a Listed race is an unusual sight in European racing. For example, the Foundation Stakes at Goodwood on Wednesday was worth £59,000, while the Oaks Trial at Lingfield in May was worth £60,000.

For Warsaw’s racing faithful, Sunday's feature is part tradition, part civic pride. It is the day foreign horses arrive to test the locals and Polish racing briefly feels part of the wider European scene.

“The Polish racing society thinks that it is the Polish Arc,” said Filip Baginski, chief executive of Polish Turf Magazine. “Of course there's no race you can compare to the Arc, but it’s the most important race after the Derby in Poland.”

First run under Russian rule in 1895 by Count August Potocki, the Wielka Warszawska was designed as Poland’s richest and most prestigious Flat race. Within a year it was opened internationally, with foreign runners forced to carry an extra 12lb unless they were fillies destined for Polish studs.

The race has continued despite wars, economic crises and venue changes, and since 1946 it has been run at Sluzewiec, with the distance fixed at 2600m (1m5f) from 1949. Flat racing in Poland, though, operates on the margins. Breeding is limited, purses outside the Wielka are modest and publicity is thin. Baginski is blunt about the causes.

“Racing in Poland fell to a really low stage when the communist system fell and a gambling company signed a 30-year contract with the Polish Jockey Club,” he said. “They look after the land, the buildings, the stables and prize-money, but they don’t have a clue about racing.

“They don’t advertise for the race. I come to London and see posters for Ascot, the same in Paris for the Arc, but if you go through Warsaw the day before the Wielka you don’t know one of the biggest Flat races is happening.”

Caccini, the Polish Derby winner, holds off Va Bank in the 2016 Wielka WarszawskaCredit: Andrzej Misiak

The president of Warsaw will be among the attendees on Sunday, but while Sluzewiec can hold 50,000, Baginski estimates around 15,000 will be there.

“It’s still an incredible event,” he said. “The racing society is strong enough for now, but in the next ten years, when the older trainers and owners disappear because of their age, who knows what will happen. That’s why this race is so important, it puts Polish racing out there.

“The high prize is like a magnet to bring horses from abroad and we need some international media to know that this race exists.

“Because of how the Pattern system is built, if the horses from Europe do not come to compete in this race then it won’t stay as a Listed race. It’s important to build the race up and keep horses from Europe attending and then maybe the race could become a Group 3.”

Trainer Andrzej Walicki holds the record for the most number of wins with ten, while Jerzy Jednaszewski has ridden the most winners with eight.

'Poland's Arc': the Wielka Warszawska always attracts a healthy crowdCredit: Getty Images

The Wielka is a weight-for-age contest for three-year-olds and upwards. Polish Derby runners regularly clash with seasoned stayers, and three-year-olds often hold the edge thanks to the weight allowance.

Foreign winners such as Caitano, Nagano Gold and last year’s German victor Kaneshya, owned by race sponsors Westminster, underline its cross-border pull. 

The first international winner was the Hungarian-trained Montauciel, in 1994, ridden by 61-year-old Pal Kallai. He died aged 73 in 2006 as the oldest active jockey in racing.

Home heroes Demona, Kliwia, Va Bank and Night Tornado have also entered Polish sporting folklore after wins in the race.

This year, the foreign challenge will include Lady Monia, who although trained in Germany began her career in Poland and was third in the Polish Oaks, and Kosakenzipfel, who last ran in Hungary's Kincsem Díj, a race won by the Jane Chapple-Hyam-trained Claymore.

They underline the cosmopolitan reach of the Wielka Warszawska, drawing together formlines from Germany, Poland and Hungary, and giving Warsaw’s showpiece a genuinely international flavour. That said, Baginski believes the Polish Derby winner, Chestnut Rocket, trained by Krysztof Ziemianski, can complete the double of the country’s two great prizes. He added: “He’s an excellent trainer and has a fantastic horse."

For all the challenges Polish racing faces, the Wielka Warszawska endures, proof that even in a racing backwater, one great race can carry a nation’s tradition, attract overseas runners and, for one afternoon in Warsaw, feel every inch like Poland’s Arc.

Sign up to receive The Ante-Postman, Robbie Wilders' top weekly newsletter. Get weekend tips, festival fancies and big-race selections delivered straight to your inbox