The St Moritz gallops held in February are under threat from climate change as the frozen lake under the course is melting.
The guardian.com reports that the White Turf meeting has been held for 114 years, and last weekend, 7000 people visited St Moritz to watch the race.
Racing on thin ice? (Pic – FB Jess Samy)
“With enough ice and not too much snow on Lake St Moritz, everything seemed perfectly prepared for this year’s 114th edition of the White Turf,” said a spokeperson for the meeting.
“However, over the past week, water pushed through from below in the finishing area, so that the races could not be held as planned. All racing events – flat and trotting races as well as skijoring – were shortened to 800 metres. Since the starting boxes were not in use either, all races were started with the flag.”
Breeding & Racing report that the winners on the day were Identified (Showcasing-Corazon Canarias, by Caradak) in the GP Koller Elektro, Mordred (Camelot-Endure, by Green Desert) in the GP Longines, High Hope (Sea the Moon-High Heat, by Boreal) in the Preis Freunde des Reenvereins, and Turandot (Nutan-Turmalina, by Doyen) in the GP Von Celerina for skikjoring.
Watch some archive footage:
