Elite race 1956 (Gerlinotte)
In 1956 the elite race on the trotting track in Gelsenkirchen (today GelsenTrabPark ) was held for the 10th time. The crowd puller was the French mare Gerlinotte with driver legend Charlie Mills in a sulky.
prehistory
In 1956 the elite race became part of the European circuit for the first time and was held as the 5th partial test of the Grand Circuit International . With an endowment of 36,000 DM, this was higher than the endowment of the German Trotter Derby . Accordingly, there was a strong international line-up in which the French mare Gerlinotte was considered an outstanding favorite in advance. Charlie Mills had tried twice before to win the elite race, but had so far been unsuccessful. In 1954 he reached the final battle with Emimile RL , but ended unsuccessfully at a gallop across the finish line. It won Horrido in the hand of Kurt Hörmann for the German colors. In 1955 the Dutch stallion Mac Kinley won . In 1956 such a strong international line-up came to the fore that the only four horses drawn in Germany could only be attributed outsider opportunities. Kamagne , a horse drawn in Belgium , came to the start for the Gelsenkirchen stable courier to a winning tote of 605: 10 (today 60.5 for € 1). The Swedes were strongly represented with Tampiko , Gay Noon and Carne . Double Six M started for the Netherlands . Gerlinotte received a distance allowance of 60 meters (ribbon start). Gay Noon entered the race as the strongest competitor with a winning goal of 73:10 (7.3 for € 1 today). Gay Noon's distance allowance was 40 meters.
The superiority of Gerlinotte prompted the Westdeutscher Trotterzucht und Rennverein (later Trabrennverein Gelsenkirchen) to reintroduce the Ita bet (2nd win bet / bet on the horse placed second), which was common in Germany in the past.
Race course
Despite the rain that had set in shortly before, the track was in good condition. The elite race started late afternoon on Sunday 1st July. According to the distance advantage, Bel Ami , Hawar and Wilhelmsburger took the lead in the group of horses running over 2,500 meters. Clemento quickly retired due to a mistake (galloped) and was disqualified. The Swedish horse Carne broke out when the starting flag fell, obstructing Gay Noon and the approaching Gerlinotte . With a skilful maneuver on the inside edge, Charlie Mills was able to limit the loss of soil to around 20 meters. Gay Noon lost about 60 meters to the leading horses and galloped briefly in the first curve (then left course), which resulted in a further loss of ground. Already at the beginning of the opposing side, Gunnar Nordin (driver of Gay Noon ) put everything on the power of his horse and started his race to catch up on the leading field from an almost hopeless position. At the exit of the opposite side, the Swede Tampiko took over the management work, whereby at the entrance of the arch (today Hesslerbogen after the district located there) he was maneuvered strongly to the inside edge by Gösta Nordin and thus hindered Hawar . Led by Tampiko , followed by Double Six M and Bel Ami, the field trotted past the grandstands again. Charlie Mills had put Gerlinotte in fourth position and so the field ran unchanged through the arch and into the last overside. In the course of this trip, Gunnar Nordin had brought Gay Noon to the field and was now in third place. At the entrance of the final arch , Gerlinotte was used and ran in the outer lane next to Tampiko through the final arch . There was a dramatic duel in which Tampiko had to admit defeat on about half of the home straight. Charlie Mills won with Gerlinotte with 2 lengths ahead of Tampiko with 4 lengths on Gay Noon . 1 ½ lengths behind, Carne crossed the finish line as fourth horse ahead of Wilhelmsburger . There were 12 horses running.
Follow-up
Approx. 25,000 spectators cheered the French mare's victory. Nevertheless, Charlie Mills was not entirely satisfied with the way Gerlinotte went and questioned the start in the Prize of Germany in Hamburg. He wanted to give Gerlinotte a break.
The winner was paid for Gerlinotte 14:10 (today 1.4 for 1 €) in the place bet 13:10. The quota for Tampiko was 17:10, for Gay Noon 18:10 and for Carne 21:10. In the Einlaufwette (today two- man bet ) Gerlinotte - Tampiko there was 60.-Mark for 10.-Mark stake. The odds of the Ita bet have not been transmitted.