Go Niche

WHERE DO horses and powder hounds meet? At the White Turf Horse Race in St Moritz, Switzerland, of course.

The century-old event is an annual highlight for both the Sport of Kings and those wealthy enough to be able to afford lodgings in the winter playground of Europe’s super rich. The most spectacular equine event of any racing calendar, anywhere, racing here takes place on the ski resort’s frozen lake each February, bringing about 35,000 spectators with it.

A meet with a difference, events include trotting, flat racing and unique “skijoring” races, wherein the riders are on skis and are pulled by their horses at speeds of up to 50km per hour over distances of more than 15 furlongs.

Held at an altitude of 1,800m, and surrounded by the snow-capped Engadine mountains, the money up here is as rarefied as the air. Think floor-length fur coats and ice of the diamond kind.

No doubt even the horses wear furs, given that temperatures as low as -20 degrees aren’t likely to sit well with your average fine-boned thoroughbred. What is certain is that they need special shoes, with built-in spikes, to help them cope.

The jockeys too have to wear special gear, namely ski goggles, to protect themselves from the snow flurry caused by the galloping horses. With the biggest prize fund of any Swiss race meet, they probably think it’s worth the danger.

That said, not only does the frozen lake have to cope with all that horse power of the traditional kind, but it doubles up as a car park for hundreds of four-wheel drives. Which surely means it’s not just the jockeys who have to be brave, but the spectators too.

• swissinfo.ch