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Kiev racecourse was opened as early as in 1969. However, it was on the wane for about 10 years, and some of its premises were not even connected to electricity.

The horse race was to be a marvellous and spectacular show.

I regarded and I still regard gambling, which includes horse racing, as something that is not pleasing to God, but I think that breeding horses and dogs is noble.

On February 7, 2009, the first competition for the Kiev Mayor’s Cup was held. 74 quarter horses competed during the two-hour race on the racetrack; seven races were held. A seven-year-old named Earl, who appeared under number 10, turned out to be the best competitor.

Kievan Yuriy Dranyuk won 100 thousand US dollars. He guessed the sequence in which the first three horses finished in the very first race. I personally handed the winner a package of C-notes. Another prize, 100 thousand hryvnias, went to Oleg Ponomarenko. He guessed the winner among the hounds. That said, the total amount of bets on horse races was one million hryvnias.

In a week, on February 14, the second stage of horse races for the Kiev Mayor’s Cup was held. Besides, a festival called “Love will win” was celebrated on the occasion of St. Valentine’s Day, and a concert featuring Iryna Bilyk was organized. Next races were held on February 21, and subsequently they were held once a week.

Entrance fee for the third Mayor’s Cup dropped to 10 hryvnias per ticket.

The horse races on the racecourse are still held every Sunday.