{"id":190181,"date":"2025-10-10T10:02:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T10:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/190181\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T10:02:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T10:02:10","slug":"heres-mud-in-your-eye-spotlight-on-german-beach-racing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/190181\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s mud in your eye: spotlight on German beach racing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/Runners cantering to post at the Duhner Wattrennen in Cuxhaven on the Elbe estuary. Photo supplied<\/p>\n

Xander Brett visited the Duhner Wattrennen in Cuxhaven, an idiosyncratic once-a-year venue where horse racing takes place on mudflats in the Elbe estuary<\/p>\n

Europe nurtures something of a beach racing network. There\u2019s Ireland\u2019s Laytown, a couple of \u2018courses\u2019 in Brittany and three in Spain, one of which \u2013 Sanl\u00facar de Barrameda \u2013 staged two three-day meetings over the summer.<\/p>\n

\"MudThat\u2019s before we get to the annual one-day Duhner Wattrennen where, off the coast of northwestern Germany, horses use a surface not of sand but of mud.<\/p>\n

Nicholas Godfrey: Are these the world\u2019s ten strangest horse races?<\/a><\/p>\n

Cuxhaven\u2019s mudflats, revealed when the tide retreats across a vast distance, form part of UNESCO\u2019s Wadden Sea World Heritage Site. It is a site that stretches all the way from the Dutch settlement of Den Helder to the Danish settlement of Varde.<\/p>\n

Cuxhaven and its suburb Duhnen, where racing takes place, lies roughly at its centre, on the tip of the Elbe\u2019s estuary.<\/p>\n

The azure Mediterranean this isn\u2019t, even with the sun beating down. If it weren\u2019t for a steady stream of cargo ships, it would be hard to make out where mud ends and sea begins. That, though, is partly due to long pools of shallow water formed from sea that\u2019s reluctant to recede.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Luckily, Duhnen isn\u2019t trying to emulate the C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur. Instead, it\u2019s a relaxing resort with classic continental northern European qualities. Bakeries sit behind a line of seafront restaurants, where herring is a staple and a cool climate means eating al fresco is by no means guaranteed.<\/p>\n

\"‘Neptune’Raceday began with drinks and speeches in the reception of the Strandhotel Duhnen. As assembled dignitaries moved outside, they were met by a curious coalescence of horn players, mascots and costumed riders. It seemed a man dressed as Neptune, god of the sea, was to become a regular presence over the next seven hours or so.<\/p>\n

I received a cheery handshake from Jos van der Meer, Duhner Wattrennen\u2019s president, who was keen to point out that his event had all the trappings of a top day out, not least good weather.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a really important event,\u201d confirmed Olaf Lies, Lower Saxony\u2019s minister-president (governor of the state) as we walked to the racecourse flanked by his bodyguards. \u201cIt\u2019s one of our most important equine events. This is a town of tourism, industry and sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Behind a dyke stood a line of food stands. A beach of thick sand featured a sectioned-off winner\u2019s enclosure, a VIP bar and collection of seating areas. In front of the beach, on what is often the seabed, sat a right-handed racecourse. Large poles denoted the inside of the track, while metal barriers suggested an outside rail. The tidal island of Neuwerk was included in the backdrop.<\/p>\n

\"AWith no stalls, Thoroughbreds were to employ a flag start and trotters \u2013 who claimed seven of the 11 races \u2013 an autostart car. Cuxhaven could afford a long card, punctuated by pony racing, a flypast and a performance to James Bond title songs. As racegoers arrived, the North Sea was already on the horizon and a tractor was depositing sponsorship banners near the finish line.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard when the water splashes,\u201d mused a mud-splattered Kevin Braye after riding Night Sky to victory in race four, our first Thoroughbred fixture. \u201cWhen you\u2019re behind horses, you can barely see anything. It\u2019s my first time riding here, but I\u2019ll be back if I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

I found leading trainer Christian von der Recke in the paddock, a grass square behind the dyke on a thoroughfare between trade stands. An apartment block occupied one side of the parade ring and the weighing room\u2019s wooden shed another.<\/p>\n

\"DelegatesVon der Recke had representation in all but one of the Thoroughbred races, each contest beginning with the ringing of a bell, after a burst of music (often classical). He was successful with Kamino in race six, though his charge picked up only \u20ac3,000 in prize-money and had seen off all of two rivals, competing for a total prize fund of just \u20ac5,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf snow comes towards you while you\u2019re skiing,\u201d he explained, \u201cyou put your head back. It\u2019s the same with horses and kickback. Ideally, you need a horse who has raced on the all-weather. They also need to stay and be up there with the pace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Von der Recke suggested that some jockeys were keen to sit beach racing out. If that was the case, they had a ready-made excuse, Krefeld hosting a six-race card at a turf course about 350km away the same day. It was there that the likes of Thore Hammer Hansen, Germany\u2019s champion jockey, were getting their leg-ups.<\/p>\n

Back at Cuxhaven, race eight, the third Thoroughbred contest, went to Alina Schubert and her self-trained Tabularasa. \u201cI\u2019ve ridden here plenty of times, but I\u2019ve never won,\u201d she admitted, marching from the weighing room to the winning presentation.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

As at many German racecourses, victorious horses were being led through the crowd, wading through sand towards the winner\u2019s enclosure or back to the paddock.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough, but I love it,\u201d shared commentator Marvin Schridde with a smile.<\/p>\n

Calling all races, Thoroughbred and Standardbred \u2013 both for the crowd and followers of a livestream \u2013 Schridde certainly had his work cut out. He was using a hand-held microphone and standing at the top of a white-painted wooden podium with a collection of officials.<\/p>\n

\"A\u201cThe racecourse is a long way from me,\u201d he added, \u201cbut that\u2019s no problem because there\u2019s a good picture on my monitor and I\u2019m still young, so I\u2019ve good eyesight!\u201d<\/p>\n

Schridde\u2019s job was also no doubt aided by the fact that no Thoroughbred race contained more than seven runners, though distances ranged from 1400m to 2500m. Racecards, which resembled a magazine, were available to pick up free of charge around town, while bets could be placed at a splattering of wooden kiosks.<\/p>\n

Naturally, on a sunny Sunday in mid-August, not everyone was in Cuxhaven for a day at the races. Holidaymakers, some with little interest in the odd burst of equine action, moved around the racecourse perimeter while, inside the enclosures, two 20-something-year-old friends said they\u2019d stumbled across the event entirely by chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were just going to the sea,\u201d confessed one with a laugh, adding that it was the first time she\u2019d been racing.<\/p>\n

While the pair said they\u2019d look into visiting again next year \u2013 intentionally \u2013 a trip to one of Germany\u2019s many conventional courses was not on their future agendas.<\/p>\n

The Duhner Wattrennen, like so many of racing\u2019s great idiosyncrasies, isn\u2019t geared towards the sport\u2019s cognoscenti, even if it might net the odd new enthusiast. Instead, it caters to infrequent racegoers eager to celebrate a cherished annual spectacle. They might have a flutter, but they\u2019re there as much for chips and ice cream as a glimpse of passing horses.<\/p>\n

When racing ends and the sea rolls back in, they might head home or flood nearby bars. For those staying, tomorrow brings the resumption of beach duties.<\/p>\n

A morning at a strandkorb, perhaps (one of the many covered chairs dotted along the beach and, on raceday, enclosures) or crabbing. Always assuming a few crabs managed to escape yesterday\u2019s thundering of hooves, that is.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Visit the Duhner Wattrennen website<\/a><\/p>\n

Arc angel: Daryz rockets up rankings in Europe\u2019s richest race with emotional success in Aga Khan silks<\/a><\/p>\n

A life after racing: \u2018If you build it, they will come\u2019 \u2013 spotlight on rich new ex-racehorse event<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses \/<\/a>\u00a0jockeys \/<\/a>\u00a0trainers \/<\/a>\u00a0sires<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Runners cantering to post at the Duhner Wattrennen in Cuxhaven on the Elbe estuary. Photo supplied Xander Brett…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-190181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}