On Sunday afternoon, National Gallop’s regional spring season ended with István Kövesdi’s victory on the Kocséri Gallop. From now on, the whole country concentrates on the races of the National Gallop in Budapest.
Horse communities and horse fans all over country will keep track of the upcoming programs in Budapest where the organizers have been working for more than 3 months to prepare the main events of the National Gallop.
News:
This year the National Gallop lasts for 5 days and grew bigger with a new racetrack. On the new Széchenyi Racetrack built on the `56-osok tere` along the warm-up exercises, several other competitions and fascinating events will take place from Wednesday to Friday. Such as, paraequestrian show, double-coach driving competition, show jumping competition, reining show, dressage, polo show and more. 2010 is the Memorial Year of Count Széchenyi therefore the National Gallop dedicates its programs to the ‘Greatest Hungarian’ in cooperation with the Széchenyi Memorial Committee.
Changes in the competitions rules: For a fairer competition blood-horses with a handicapping number over 50 and professional jockeys cannot participate from this year. Competitors racing with traditional Hungarian horses get an awarded by their time results. The winner of ‘The Traditional Hungarian Horse Brand’ will receive 200 000 HUF and the owner of the horse connected to a sponsor can attend the National Gallop free of charge in 2011. The following 8 horse brands can compete in this category: `Furioso-north Star`, `Kisbéri félvér`, `Gidrán`, `Nóniusz`, `Lipicai`, `Shagya arab` (`bábolnai arab`), `Magyar hidegvérű ló` and the `Hucul`.
This year 72 settlements entered for the rounds of the National Gallop, from which 11 settlements got the right to attend the regional Gallops. According to the regulations, each settlement organizing a regional gallop can to represent itself on the Gallop Promenade taking place on Andrássy Avenue. As a result, we shall see 82 settlements representing themselves in Budapest. Among the applicants, there are nine trans-border settlements from Transylvania and the Northern Hungarian Highlands. Transylvanian Nagyszalonta’s Mayor announced that next year they will be organizing the Bihar Regional Gallop, and it is likely that in 2011 there will also be a Székelyföldi Regional Gallop.
Attendance to the National Gallop rounds is free of charge. In the past two years people criticized that, those standing behind could not see the rounds. To avoid this problem the organizers build a few mobile grandstands. Tickets are available on the spot. Ticket prices are from 2 000 HUF to 5 500 HUF. Children (under 120 cm) have a 50 % discount. Near the Műcsarnok a VIP grandstand will be mounted. VIP ticket prices are from 20 000 HUF to 50 000 HUF. The VIP tickets include free beverages, free admission to the horse-shows on the Széchenyi Racetrack, free horse riding and coach riding, free pálinka, wine and beer tasting and a surprise gift for kids.
Those arriving by train to the National Gallop have a 50 % discount from MÁV-START Zrt. The management of the National Gallop offers the 5 % of the income from selling tickets for those suffering from flood damages.
PROGRAMS:
Besides maintaining national traditions, organizers would like to build bridges connecting villages, little settlements and the Capital. After the regional gallops, qualifying rounds and the final several new programs improve the National Gallop organized together with the different regions.
The first cart-pushing competition.
Kocs village is known for its coach-type carts. (kocsi). The National Gallop and Kocs village will organize the first cart-pushing competition together. There is a captain, four pushers and a coachman in the six-member team. A fixed flag is on the cart. The winner team’s flag should cross the goal line first. The challenging team is Kocs. In the team of Kocs - Ildikó Keresztes, Attila Deli, Tamás Major, Richárd Szinak, Zsolt Barsi, Zoltán Eszlári, Bálint Bottlik, in the team of sportsmen - Ági Kovács, Sándor Bárdosi, Balázs Dzsudzsák, György Kozmann, Gábor Kucsera, Attila Katus and in the team of actors and singers - Vanda Dombóvári, Steve Hajdú, Bebe, Károly Rékasi, Norbert Növényi, Ferenc Rippel will compete. Kocs’s team will wear white shirts, the sportsmen red, the actors and singers green shirts and all of them will be in black trousers. Sándor Fábry will be the commentator during a live broadcast of RTL Klub. The winner offers 100 000 HUF the second and the third best offer 50 000 – 50 000 HUF to its chosen foundation. The woman mayor of Kocs, Jánosné Bódis, will give the awards.
Lehel's Horn arrives from Jászberény. The National Gallop’s opening ceremony will start with the blow of Lehel’s Horn just like last year. Edit H. Bató the manager of Jász Museum in Jászberény and József Gedei the Mayor of Jászberény offered this inestimable relic to the organizers. The jász nation brought this horn probably in the 13th century when moving to Hungary. The Jász Museum in Jászberény guards the horn as a national treasure from 1847.
The Madaras children and youth brass and reed band (Madarasi Gyermek és Ifjúsági Fúvószenekar) will play on the opening and on the award ceremony. The organizers on the Bácsalmási Gallop discovered the band. They decided to invite them and share this treasure with the audience of Budapest. The bandmaster is Alfonz Szente.
The ‘Kitchen of Hungary’ is on the 56-osok tere. The National Gallop is an exceptional meeting opportunity. It is a feast where we Hungarians are the guests and the hosts at the same time and a chance to recall our beautiful traditions to show ourselves and to pay attention to each other. In the ‘Kitchen of Hungary’, you can taste the best dishes from all over the country for 5 days.
The rounds will begin with the Coburg Hussars from Tök and the Kaiser Hussars from Isaszeg. Traditional Hussars will perform historical equestrian battles also.
The Celebrity Charity Race will be quite a spectacle! Hungarian celebrities like László Hajas, Tibor Pintér, Rita Trecskei, Ferenc Hujber, Árpád Zsolt Mészáros and Géza Kaszás will race on horseback as well, with the winners’ purse going to the charity of the star’s choice. The actor and musician Sándor Sasvári will compete on the amateur show jumping – Aranyos Kupa.
The Museum of Military History and the National Gallop invited applications for „Széchenyi the Heroe” children’s drawing exhibition. From the best drawings, there will be an open-air exhibition built on Dózsa György út for 2 days. The award ceremony will take place on 5 June at 2:00 PM.
