The main street of Santpoort-Noord was again the meeting place for Santpoorters today. You could walk over the heads along the course where after a break of two years a short track trotting race was held again. Southwind Raptor with picker Marco Spin won the match.
The trottery of Santpoort is one of records. The competition is the oldest (the first was in 1752), attracts the most crowds and nowhere higher totalizator sales are achieved. But Santpoort is also a trottery of firsts. For the first time in history, eight Belgian horses and pikeurs started. Thus one could speak of an international match, a derby of the Low Countries. It was won by the ‘homeland.’
That wasn’t such a great art. Short track trotting in Belgium is still in its infancy. The southern neighbors have to make do with one race on the beach of De Haan, while in the Netherlands a whole series of races is on the program.
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Trottery Santpoort – NH News
Unaccustomedness especially bothered the Flemish Shana Baten. She was only competing in a short course competition for the first time. Especially the start caused her problems. Shana: “We don’t know that in Belgium. I looked closely at videos on Youtube, but I was still surprised. It goes really fast.”
Yet she had enjoyed Santpoort. “Great to experience this once. So many people was a bit stressful for my horse. But I am still proud of her. I certainly hope to come back here.”