A thrilling finish for the title: Assistent is “Galopper des Jahres 2024”

The “Galopper des Jahres 2024” is called Assistent. In an extremely exciting public vote, the Sea The Moon offspring narrowly prevailed. With 41 percent of the votes, he secured first place in this traditional public vote. Just behind him was the 2023 Derby winner and 2023 Horse of the Year, Fantastic Moon, with 38 percent. Diana winner Erle took third place with 21 percent.

Assistant © Marc Rühl

Assistant joins the ranks of great thoroughbreds that have already received this prestigious honor – including legendary names such as Orofino, Acatenango, Danedream and Torquator Tasso.

His outstanding performances last year impressed fans. Assistent opened last year's season with a victory at his home track in Cologne in the Grand Prix Aufgalopp (listed race). In the further course of the season, the stallion consistently showed strong performances and regularly placed at group level. In the Carl Jaspers Preis (Group II), Assistent finished second behind Lordano, followed by a third place in the Wettstar Grand Prix (Group II).

At the end of the year, the Sea the Moon son crowned his final season with a victory in the Baden Galopp Herbst Trophy (Group III), followed by a triumph at the highest level in the Grosser Allianz Preis von Bayern (Group I) against international competition. With this success, the five-year-old stallion, owned by Eckhard Sauren, retired from racing and is now available as a breeding stallion at Gestüt Röttgen.

Over a period of three years, Assistent consistently delivered strong performances and established himself as a reliable and successful racehorse at the highest level.

Honor at the season opener in Cologne on March 30

The festive honor of the “Galopper des Jahres” will take place on March 30 at the season opener in Cologne. In addition to him, his trainer Henk Grewe, his owner Eckhard Sauren and the breeders from Gestüt Röttgen will also be honored for their successes.

Another highlight: the winners of the competition will be announced during the livestream of Wettstar during the broadcast of the Cologne race day. The main prize is an exclusive trip to the legendary Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in Paris – including three nights' accommodation from October 3 to 6 and free admission to the ParisLongchamp racecourse on the race weekend.

There are also many other attractive prizes to be won, including a travel voucher worth €1,000, a VIP race weekend at Hannover's Neue Bult racecourse, and numerous non-cash prizes.

Deutscher Galopp and Wettstar would like to thank all racing fans who took part in the vote. The traditional public vote has been an integral part of German horse racing since 1957 and celebrated its 68th anniversary this year.

Source: Deutscher Galopp