White Turf St. Moritz and the Jockey Club of Turkey Organize Racing and Cultural Exchange

The Grand Prix White Turf St. Moritz will be held 15 May 2016, in Istanbul

Racing takes place each February on the frozen lake at St. Moritz

Racing takes place each February on the frozen lake at St. Moritz

28 April 2016, St. Moritz, Switzerland ~ On 15 May 2016, a delegation of the St. Moritz racing association will travel to Istanbul, where a Grand Prix White Turf St. Moritz will take place for first time on the Türkiye Jokey Kulübü racecourse. On this occasion, meetings will be held as part of a social and cultural exchange between the two countries.

By joining the cultural and tourism exchange between the two countries White Turf CEO Silvio M. Staub and his Management Board team has prepared the ground for an international cooperation that will contribute to achieving worldwide acclaim for the international horse races of St. Moritz as well as showcasing the horse racing of Turkey. From 2016 onwards, White Turf St. Moritz will cooperate with the Jockey Club of Turkey.

During Turkey’s Grand Prix White Turf St. Moritz race day delegations and cooperating partners of both countries, the Jockey Club of Turkey, as well as media representatives will meet with John Ruhoff, Deputy Consul General from the Turkey Executive Office. Swiss champion jockey Olivier Plaçais will be part of the delegation and will represent Switzerland as an active horseman.

Silvio M. Staub explained: “Through our journey to Istanbul as well as our active participation and numerous social contacts in addition to the races, we very much look forward to making a gesture of confidence and friendship towards our Turkish partners. To me, the personal appreciation is very important, but most significant of all is to be able to prove that the racing sport represents a unifying element. This has also been our main focus in all our continued collaboration.”

The partnership is based on reciprocity: In 2016 on the second White Turf race day on Sunday, 14 February 2016, the GP Christoffel Bau Trophy supported by the Jockey Club of Turkey, a flat race over 1,600 metres, took place with prize money of 20,000 Swiss Francs. The White Turf committee was extremely pleased to welcome a big delegation of the Jockey Club of Turkey from Istanbul on the occasion of this race on the frozen lake of St. Moritz.

In addition to the fruitful partnerships with the racecourses Berlin-Hoppegarten and Mauritius, the White Turf will also cooperate from this year onwards with the Wrocław Racecourse in Poland. These partnerships are based on sports but include cultural events as well as the promotion of tourism and underline the international significance of the White Turf and its worldwide importance.

~end supplied report