Breeding and Trotting Club Straubing
The breeding and trotting club Straubing 1873 e. V. is the oldest German trotting club. He runs the harness racing track in Straubing and organizes around 20 racing days a year with an average of up to ten races.
history
Horse races have been run in Straubing since the 14th century. At that time they were still called scarlet races and were not yet run according to strict regulations. It was not until 1873 that a trotting club was founded in Straubing.
founding
The first general meeting took place on May 19, 1873 and the oldest trotting club in Germany was founded. The first races were held in October. The races were run on the so-called Hagenwiese, today's Volksfestplatz. The city initially made the area available to the club free of charge, but under its chairman Johann Hochgraßl, the harness racing club set about building its own racetrack in the south of Straubing at the beginning of the 20th century. The facility cost the equivalent of 40,000 euros. It was built on the model of the imperial racecourse in Baden near Vienna and inaugurated on May 12, 1901.
1904-1959
Since 1904 the club is officially called the Zucht- und Trabrennverein - one name. In 1908 the first totalizer was used. However, the First World War interrupted what was happening on the racetrack - it was not held again until 1919. The sale of the racetrack was considered during the world currency crisis . In addition, at the same time, a wing with stables was destroyed in a fire in the main building in 1923. But for the 50th anniversary in 1923, things picked up again and the buildings were rebuilt. Stables and the racing secretariat are still housed in the historic building today.
In 1930 the Ministry of Agriculture approved a betting shop for all Bavarian racing courses in Bernauergasse. The proceeds were used for the fundamental renovation of the racing area. A new tower, stables and a portal were built over the following years. And racing continued during the Second World War. In 1940 the trotter stud was founded. In the war years, however, the racetrack was badly damaged. Bombs hit the race track. But from 1945 races took place again - even when the currency reform drove the club out of the last of its money reserves. Only with the help of the Bavarian Traber umbrella organization could the Straubinger organize further.
1960 - today
In 1960 Anton Seibold took over the chairmanship and was to lead the association for 37 years. From Straubing, he assumed responsibility as president of the German main association for trotter breeding and racing, as well as at the European umbrella organization UET. For the first time on a Bavarian railway, a starter car was used, loudspeakers and floodlights and new stables were built, and in 1969 a new grandstand was built. The old wooden grandstand had to give way to the Ejadonhalle in 1989. Later, the introduction of the electric totos caused a sensation among bettors. Today betting is also possible via the Internet.
The breeding and trotting club slipped into debt in the 1990s. In 2003 the oldest trotting club in Germany had liabilities of around 1.2 million euros. By selling part of the property, which resulted in the race being shortened by 100 meters, the club was only partially excused. The staff had to be laid off and approaches to modern management were introduced.
In 2007 the racing club was again close to bankruptcy. At the last minute the members decided to accept the purchase offer from the Lindinger family from Aschheim near Munich, owners of the successful Wieserhof stable and passionate horse owners. The Straubing Trabrennbahn has a new owner who continues to make the area available to the association for holding horse races.
Since February 2008 Josef Schachtner is the chairman of the breeding and trotting club, his deputy is Dr. Reinhard Schmidt. With Schachtner, Germany's oldest racing club has the youngest chairman.
Known horses
The Straubing stallion Ejadon wrote trotting history. Together with Simmerl, he made the trotting city of Straubing internationally known, both of them won almost all the important tests in Germany and celebrated prominent victories in Europe. Race No. 4 for the two-year-olds, which was held until 2004 and always held on the second Saturday of the Volksfest, attracted the German elite of drivers to the Gäuboden every year.