The Country’s Prestigious Horse Race, The National Gallop, Begins on Friday

The 17th National Gallop, which has been extended to three days this year, will start on Friday at the Lipica Equestrian Center in Szilvásvárad (northern Hungary).

Kristóf Szotyori Nagy, the event’s race director, said that this year’s National Gallop commemorates the Thirteen Martyrs of Arad, which is particularly significant because

the final day of the race falls on October 6, the day of the Thirteen Martyrs of Arad, a national day of mourning.

Fact

On October 6, 1849, thirteen officers were executed in Arad, in today’s Romania. The execution was ordered by Austrian General Julius Jacob von Haynau after the failure of the Hungarian Revolution and the War of Independence of 1848-1849. The generals, who were active or retired imperial officers at the beginning of the War of Independence, were captured and executed by the Austrian army to make an example of them and ensure that Hungary would never again rebel against the Habsburg Empire.

The Martyrs of Arad were executed at dawn on October 6, 1849, the first anniversary of the Vienna Uprising and the assassination of Imperial War Minister Theodor Franz, Count Baillet von Latour. Although the number of officers executed in Arad was sixteen, the national memory remembers mainly the thirteen officers executed on that day: Aristid Dessewffy, Ernő Kiss, József Schweidel, Ernő Pöltenberg, Ignác Török, György Láhner, Károly Knézićh, József Nagysándor, Károly Leiningen-Westerburg, Lajos Aulich, János Damjanich, Károly Vécsey, and Colonel Vilmos Lázár. In addition, the death of Prime Minister Lajos Batthyány became the symbol of the defeat of the Revolution and the War of Independence.

In 2001, the government declared October 6 a national day of mourning.

A 19th century portrait of the 13 martyrs of Arad. Photo: Wikipedia

Regarding the venue, the director of the race explained that the Lipica Equestrian Center in Szilvásvárad has great ground, which is very important for the health and protection of the horses, and it is also a great venue, as it can accommodate 300 horses for several days. In addition, the equestrian stadium is more transparent for spectators than the Heroes’ Square venue was, he added.

In response to a question, Kristóf Szotyori Nagy emphasized that sixty municipalities would be represented at the National Gallop. He also pointed out that the distance had been shortened by one lap in the semi-finals and the final compared to previous years.

The main aim of the National Gallop is to revive our equestrian traditions and to enrich them with content, wrapped in a ‘modern robe,’ and to build a national image that has always been characteristic of the Hungarian people, because the Hungarians are an equestrian nation,”

highlighted the director.

According to an earlier announcement of the National Gallop, the event will also be attended by riders from Transylvania, Vojvodina, Moravia, and Slovakia. An important difference compared to other horse races is that the National Gallop is not an individual event, but a competition for each municipality. Only Hungarian-bred Lipizzaner horses over five years old can compete.

The final of the 17th National Gallop in Szilvásvárad will be broadcast live on Sunday on the Duna TV channel, while sporting highlights from the previous days will be available on the M4 sports channel and on the public media platform MédiaKlikk.

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Via MTI; Featured image via Facebook/Nemzeti Vágta / National Gallop