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 Day)

Hamburg racecourse is flat, turf-only, right-handed and has an inner and an outer track, the “main” track with roughly 2000m in circumference and a home straight with 550m long. The G1 Deutsches Derby will being run on the outer track, which has the capacity to allow 20 runners from two starting stalls. The inner track is slightly smaller, thus reducing maximum field sizes.

Feature race 2400m G1 Deutsches Derby is the most important race of the annual calendar and the most iconic of Classics. A G1 event, open for 3YO colts and fillies, 2024 sees the 155th. Horses will pass the winning post twice during the race. The home straight is roughly 550m long, giving horses in longer races time to jostle for a position before rounding the rather narrow bends. An inner draw in larger fields might be equally disadvantageous as horses would have to use a lot of energy early on not to be swallowed up.

Meanwhile, there will be two 2200m races on the raceday, including the Listed Japan Racing Association Trophy and G3 Hamburger Stutenpreis. These races are run on the outer track and start halfway up the homestraight, meaning the first bend is literally around the corner.

1600m HKJC World Pool Handicap starts at the very top of this first bend, the horses then cross the inner track to turn onto the outer, giving outside draws a possible disadvantage.

The track is prone to get heavy rather quickly once rain should arrive, due to its soil. Torrential thunderstorms hit the track just before the first weekend´s racing, and while the impact on the ground may be small come Deutsches Derby Day , an unsettled forecast with cooler temperatures make a weather watch essential.

Disclaimer:
The above content and information are the personal views and/or opinions of each individual writer and do not represent the views of The Hong Kong Jockey Club and/or its subsidiaries (together, the "HKJC"). The content and information are provided by the writers solely for entertainment purpose only, and should not be construed as a suggestion for anyone to place any bet nor should they be taken and/or relied upon as advice of any kind. The above content and information have not been verified, confirmed and/or endorsed by HKJC and HKJC shall not be liable to any person for any loss or damage suffered by such person as a result of any use or reliance of the above content or information.

HKJC shall not be required to give and does not give any warranty, whether express or implied, arising out of or in connection with the content or information. The Club disclaims any responsibility and accepts no liability (whether in tort, contract or otherwise) for any direct or indirect loss of damage arising from any inaccuracies, omission or typographical errors that may be contained therein. The Club also does not warrant the accuracy, completeness, timeliness or fitness for purpose of any such information.