47 Horses At White Turf 2026 Opening This Weekend

by admin in RSS Social News. Posted February 7, 2026

White Turf St. Moritz kicks off its first race weekend today with 47 horses from four countries competing on Sunday on the frozen Lake St. Moritz in the disciplines of gallop, trot, and Skikjöring, battling it out in six races for a total of 104,000 Swiss francs in prize money. The annual races, which have been staged for almost 120 years, will be launched on Saturday 7 February with an Opening Day featuring a program for young and old alike.

Six horse races are scheduled for the first race Sunday. In the flat races, the fields feature two races with eight starters each and one race with nine starters. In the two trotting races, seven and eight horses respectively will compete for the top honours. All races are endowed with at least 12,000 Swiss francs in prize money.

“Conditions on Lake St. Moritz are good. Due to the low levels of precipitation, we have produced artificial snow and prepared it on the racetrack. Final preparations are now in full swing to ensure the athletes have the best possible surface,” says Dennis Schiergen, Head of Racing at White Turf St. Moritz.

The 1,300-meter sprint forms the highlight of the first race day. The fastest thoroughbreds will compete for 25,000 Swiss francs in prize money on each of the three White Turf Sundays. With Rogue Spirit and the Hungarian guest Surprise of Easter, last year’s sprint winners will face strong competition, including the German snow specialist Scipio as well as the two Swiss newcomers Tyson and Beau Gars.

Particularly popular with the public is Skikjöring. In a top-class field, experienced snow specialists and ambitious newcomers will battle for the title. Two-time defending champion Valeria Schiergen, with five-time season winner Alpenjäger, is among the favourites to secure a hattrick as «Queen of the Engadin».

International competitors also add extra excitement to the two trotting races. Bavarian serial winner Fourteenth of July will face several challengers from Switzerland and abroad in the elite race. In the second trot, another strong guest, Icelander, will line up to challenge the proven snow trotters Kiss Forever H.C. and Classic Chrono.

The White Turf horse racing event in St. Moritz first took place on the frozen Lake St. Moritz in 1907. While a horse race on snow was held in 1906, the official, annual, and legendary event on the frozen lake began in 1907 and has continued to be a major, exclusive event in the Engadin valley since.