Catrin Nack's Bio

Catrin became hooked with racing when she watched ZAUBERER ploughing through the mud to win the German Derby in 1978. She ventured into racehorse-ownership in 1994, and this horse, a mare, is still with her at the tender age of 30. Catrin and her husband have been running several syndicates, mainly with homebred horses, and continue to breed in partnerships. She joined the German racing newsletter Turf-Times as a freelance writer in 2010 and has been contributing about English and Irish racing, with a focus on National Hunt, until 2023.

Hamburg Racecourse – Track Analysis (Deutsches Derby)

The German Derby was first staged in 1869, making this year’s edition the 154. An oval Hamburg racecourse as is more or less every track in Germany, one bend borders directly onto a motorway, with the home straight and the second bend right next to major roads as well. Hamburg racecourse is run by the local Racing Club and only stages this one meeting per year; the racecourse is open to the public as a park for the rest of the year. With very little room for outbuildings and a hotel overlooking the home straight, official buildings like the scales and the paddock and pre-parade ring are located in the center of the track.

Hamburg racecourse is flat, turf-only, right-handed and has an inner and an outer track, with the main races – including the Derby – being run on the outer, the “main” track. This track is roughly 2,000m in circumference, with a home straight 550m long. The Derby starts at the top of the straight; the field passes the stand twice during this race. Racedays during the Derby week have varied in recent years, but with 10 to 12 races per raceday, the turf cover was unable to cope, thus the creation of the inner track about 10 years ago. Hamburg racecourse used to have a shoot for its 1,000m sprint races, these races started at the top of the second bend; this has been claimed by the council, so sprint-races will always be around a bend; these races may have a significant draw-bias towards inner stalls. Due to the width of the track runners per race are limited, 20 being the maximum on the outer track. Expensive Handicaps with large fields are uncommon in Germany, with the Derby usually attracting the largest field. Keeping the ground in good condition is naturally of utmost priority for the Club, with the number of races putting extra pressure on the turf. The main race, the German Derby, is run on the last day of the meeting.

The number of runners in the German Derby is limited to 20, given the width of the track. As mentioned before the 2,400m start is at the top of the straight - in fact, when a full field of 20 reached the post for the 2022 running, the starting gate was found too wide for the turf strip, and the track crew had to temporarily dislodge part of the rails on both sides to ensure a safe but fair run-up, in due course stalling for almost 20 minutes before the Derby field could be sent on their way. While the field has the whole straight ahead of them, getting a good position early - especially for speed horses that draw the rail - is vital, and higher stalls are at a clear disadvantage. In fact stall 20 is a distinct negative in picking your bet, as very few horses have overcome this high draw to get placed or score even higher.

Weather watching is vital for any outdoor sport, and with warmer summers watering tracks to maintain a safe surface became commonplace. Hamburg has started to water at the beginning of June and continues to do so, according to the weather forecast, no significant amount of rain will be arrived. This shall mean the Derby will run on good summer ground. But keep in mind that there are four racedays with an average of 10 races before the day of Derby – and the turf surface may become rough.

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