SEPI Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales

• The GP Subasta ACPSIE 2016 will be the main race. Furthermore, the horse racetrack will feature the market “La Despensa de Madrid” and a new coffee shop Huella Restaurant Lounge & Events
• On Saturday September 16th, an auction of yearlings organized by the ACPSIE beginning at 5:30 pm

Sunday, September 17th is the date chosen for the return of horse racing to Hipódromo de La Zarzuela after the August hiatus. On that day will begin a new Fall Season, with great sporting and leisure attractions. This Season will continue up to December 3rd, and during the whole period a total of eighty two horse races will take place, of which nine will be Great Prixes. These races will be contested on thirteen exciting race meetings. They will take place on Sundays, starting at 11:30 am, and also on October 12th, Thursday, in order to celebrate Spain’s national day, the Hispanic Heritage Day.

Throughout these thirteen race meetings a total of 1,415,200€ will be awarded in prizes, and we will enjoy nine Great Prizes. Among them stands out, as usual, the one which will take place on Sunday, October 22nd, the Champions’ Day, when the GP Memorial Duque de Toledo will be contested; this is a listed race, which will award 68,000€, of which 40,000€ are for the winner; and also the Gran Criterium, an A-category race, with 45,900€ in prize money. Mention must be made also to the GP de La Hispanidad, with 61,200€; the GP 76 Reapertura de La Zarzuela, the GP Ricardo Ruíz Benítez de Lugo, the GP Román Martín, and the GP Antonio Blasco, all of them with a 40,800€ purse; and the GP Villamejor, with 51,000€ in awards.

In this first race meeting, on which will take place six horse races, with the participation of 92 thoroughbreds, we will be able to enjoy the first Great Prize of the Season, the GP Subasta ACPSIE (A-Category) with 45,000€ in prize money, to be shared by the six first to arrive to the finish line, of which 27,000€ will be for the winner. It will take place in the fifth race of the program, on a 1,400 meter-long distance, and it will be contested by ten 2-year old colts which were offered on the yearlings’ public auction organized by the Association of Breeders of English Thoroughbreds in Spain (ACPSIE) in 2016. The favorites are Bella Canarias and Ategorrieta, the only winners in the pack; we cannot rule out Cañedo, which is said to arrive very well trained the race, and attention must be paid also to Nieves, because she might spring the surprise, or arrive very close to the winner.

Mention must be made also to two important 1,600 meter-long races which will be used as preparatory races for the Gran Premio de la Hispanidad; the Premio Partipral for nine 3-year old specimens, in the sixth race, and the Premio Young Tiger for nine 4-year old and older thoroughbreds, in the seventh race. Both of these races have a B-Category, and with a purse of 25,500€. In both the favorites belong to the stable Cuadra Antonio Caro: Ascot Angel and Almorox, respectively. Cuppacoffe might complete the twin bet with the highly valued French colt; and the dangerous Noray, the recent winner of the Gran Premio Gobierno Vasco, will compete with the horse most liked by the media from the Antonio Caro’s stable, which adds notoriety to the race after his last two victories.

The first race of the meeting will correspond to the Premio Zalduendo (C-Category), as part of the Made in Spain’s program, with a 1,400 meter-long distance and fourteen 2-year old colts on the track. Aupa, Bahía Canaria, Caribean Blue, and Magal are the names with the best odds in this difficult race for the debutants.

This will followed by the Premio Abraham García (C-Category), to be run on a 1,500 meter-long distance, with eighteen 3-year old colts which aim to win the gold. Karlsburg, who has rested all summer long, is one of the favorites, together with Gibralwar, the brilliant winner in his debuting race. Mr. Hobbs must also been taken into account.

The third race, the Premio La Despensa de Madrid – Quinault, and the fourth’s, the Premio Familia Galdeano, will host a two-parts 2,100 meter-long handicap. In the complicated second part, in which will take part twenty candidates, the highest odds are for Loup Boutin, Flanigann and for Ouranys, among others; while in the first part, with twelve participants, stand out Shesspirr, Iron Star, and Canciller. In this second race the jockeys will wear a black armband in mourning for the recent death of Mr. José Mª Sánchez Conde, one of the founders of the stable Cuadra Valladolid.

Before, that, on September 16th, will take place the traditional public auction for yearlings organized by the ACPSIE, during which a total of 53 domestic and foreign specimens will be presented to owners. The auction will begin at 5.30 pm at the Hipódromo de La Zarzuela’s paddock.

Thus, September 17th will be the first day of this new Season; the facilities will open at 10.30 am, in order to enjoy of the live music, of the free children’s activities, of the gastronomic offer with food trucks, rice dishes, barbecue, and of a renovated coffee shop Huella Restaurant Lounge & Events, located on the Northern Garden, at which it will be possible to taste a wide range of snacks and menus. Besides, on that day it will be open on the Southern Garden the market “La Despensa de Madrid”, which will offer the opportunity of tasting typical food products from the Madrid region, such as wines, cheeses, sweets, or oils, as well as ecological products. The admission ticket to the facilities will continue being 5€ for adults, and free for those less than 18 years of age, with the exception of October 22nd, the Champions’ Day, when the ticket will cost 10€.

HZ makes available to the public the free bus service which depart from Paseo Moret in Moncloa, from 10.30 am onward.

All the races will be broadcast through streaming on the website www.ABC.es

About Hipódromo de La Zarzuela

Hipódromo de La Zarzuela is part of Patrimonio Histórico Nacional, and its grandstands are regarded as one of Madrid’s twentieth Century architectural masterpieces. The facility covers a 110-hectare surface with a high ecological value and it is endowed with first-level facilities on a privileged location within the city of Madrid, which means that the horse racetracks constitute the most important green lung of the Spanish capital, together with El Retiro Park.

HIPÓDROMO DE LA ZARZUELA  belongs to Grupo SEPI, a corporate holding made up by a total of 15 state-owned companies in which it has direct, majority shareholding participations, with a workforce of almost 73,000 professionals in 2016; the Spanish state-owned television and radio corporation, Corporación Radiotelevisión Española, which is attached to SEPI, and one public foundation. Equally, SEPI has direct minority shareholdings in a further 9 companies, as well as indirect ones in more than another 100 companies.