From white horses on white tracks to the Land of the Long White Cloud

Twenty eight year old Russian Kristina Denifostova has been in New Zealand for three years and is now a resident of this country, working full-time for Stonewall Stud’s harness racing stable at Papakura.

“I went there after one month in the country. I was still sorting out my moving process and documents, but realised how much I had to learn language, training and driving wise, if I want to work in the industry.  So I asked Steve (Telfer) if I could volunteer. He said yes. Once I started I was so keen, so I showed up and helped as much as I could. It’s very hard to start in a new country from scratch and I wanted to drive so bad. You’ve got to deserve it. It’s a Russian thing. In Russia you are not allowed to jog a horse if you don’t put enough effort in stable work,” she said.

Kristina’s family in Russia had no involvement in harness racing.

“They didn’t even know about harness racing before I started in it. Since I can remember, I’ve always loved horses. I was just born with it, I don’t know why. I always wanted to do Equestrian sport but it’s so expensive and my family couldn’t afford it. I started to buy books about horses and learnt a lot of information about them. That’s how I learnt about horse racing and harness racing. I googled racing and found out there was a racecourse in Moscow and started to watch the races and see the results.”

In 2010 Kristina came across a Vkontakte (Russian social media) page run by a stablehand working for a prominent Russian trainer in Moscow and it was to change her life.

“He had a famous racehorse. I texted her and asked if I could come and have a look at him, take a photo because he was so cool. She helped me get onto the property. She also said that they needed some help and if I wanted to I could come and help them. When I turned thirteen I asked my mum if I could go there at the weekends because I had school five days a week.”

The racecourse was two hours from her home.

“I got up at five o’clock, got on the train to Moscow, went on the subway and walked, then worked at the stables. It was quite good effort for a thirteen year old girl I think.”

For the first year all Kristina did was brush horses, wash gear and assist around the stable.

“I never drove in a cart. When you turn fourteen you get a passport and that’s when in Russia you’re allowed to get to your first work and officially do a couple of hours work.”

So at fourteen she got her first jog trip.

Once she finished school Kristina went to University in Moscow, but still worked at the stable.

“I lived on the property which was very good because Moscow racecourse is in the centre of the city and my Uni was in the city as well, not two hours from my home (laughter). I was stable hand, driver, and got some money. So that was pretty good.”

Kristina completed a degree in finance at University.

“When I left Uni I started a full-time job in a bank office. Due to my personal circumstances, I needed to pursue a career that provided better earning potential, something I was unable to achieve while working full-time as a young driver. I did business planning, money management, managing staff and finance. I always had horses as my background and as the races were Saturday and Sunday I could drive. I could also drive a couple of my favourite horses before office hours as well.”

From a limited number of drives in Russia, Kristina drove five winners.

“When I started they didn’t really support young people as much as now and it was very hard to get a licence. On the 8^th March in Russia it’s International Woman’s Day and they set up races just for girls, amateurs, young drivers and even if you have a stable hand licence you are allowed to drive (if you get your trainer’s permission). It’s just one day in the year. Other than that you have to wait for a race for amateurs or young drivers.”

“I would also like to give special recognition to Yaroslav Logvin – the trainer and driver I had been working for from the age of 16 until I left the country. He invested a big amount of time and effort in my development, supporting me, and finding races for me to drive and learn.”

Across Russia there are twenty five racecourses, the most famous being the Central Moscow Hippodrome.

“It’s the best one in the Moscow region. It’s the oldest and was built in 1834, but in 2023 it was closed for reconstruction for a few years. Now they’ve started to open it. It’s open for people as a landmark, but still not open for horses.”

Central Moscow Hippodrome combines multiple independent tracks so it’s the only racetrack in Europe where thoroughbreds and standardbreds can race the same day. It also has inner tracks for trackwork and has large stable and paddock areas which enables trainers to train and race at the same place.

“The Moscow track set-up is like Pukekohe where they train and race horses at the same place. All the trainers and their stables are around the racecourse. It’s like a big village. They have paddocks, stables, walkers.”

There are also other training centres away from racecourses.

There’s another racetrack located in Kazan in European Russia that hosts both harness and thoroughbred racing is. It spans 91.1 hectares (225 acres) making it one of the largest racetracks in Russia and Europe.

Central Moscow Hippodrome hosts the richest Russian Group One race for 4yo trotters – The Russian Trotting Derby which is worth 7 million rubbles  ($149,331 New Zealand dollars).

Eligible breeds include Russian Trotters, historic Orlov Trotters and American or French Standardbreds bred on domestic Russian farms.

A multi-heat system is used for the Russian Trotting Derby which is run over 1,600 metres from a mobile on one day.

Ten horses run an initial heat and after a designated rest period they return to the track to race a second time. The overall Derby winner is determined by the placing points, earned across 3 heats. If a horse wins two heats it automatically wins the Derby. If the number of placing points is equal for two horses, the horse that went the fastest time wins.

“Mostly the Derby is won after two heats. It’s a long-standing tradition that probably makes the racing more exciting for spectators. Having multiple heats can certainly make a race more intriguing. But at the same time you can make a mistake, finish last and try again “on the fresh legs”  in the second heat. This raises questions about whether the format is entirely fair. At the moment there are ongoing discussions about race distances and the heat system, with the aim of improving the betting experience and making the format clearer for both spectators and participants.”

Race days are mainly on Saturdays and Sundays.

“In the Central region like Moscow the average field size is seven to eight horses. The fields can be way smaller in areas close to Siberia.”

Most of the races are over 1600 metres with some over 2400 metres and 3200 meters.

“They race for the whole year and in winter they race on snow. They use a lot of machinery to make it smooth and nice and even. It’s quite nice to race on snow because it’s not hard on horses legs. Your gear is clean as well because it’s just snow (smile). In winter they put steel studs on the horse’s shoes. Every time you go onto the track in winter you should check your studs all round. I remember racing in Moscow when the temperature was minus ten.”

There is no mainstream television coverage, only on-line streaming.

Denifostova says it’s mainly older people who attend the races although there has been something of an increase in younger spectators going to the racetracks in recent years.

Russia only races trotters and the Orlov trotters were developed in Russia in the late 18th century by Count Alexei Orlov at his Khrenovskoy stud farm near the town of Bobrov (Voronezh Guberniya).

The Orlovs emerged as the result of crossing various European mares (primarily of English, Dutch, Mecklenburg, and Danish breeding) with Arabian stallions.

“The idea was to breed a horse with dual action, very strong, so it can carry carriages and people around Russia. They made a trotter with smooth action. They’re still breeding and racing from them.”

The trotting breeds have mainly come from Europe but also America.

Due to the breed’s Arabian origins, many Orlov Trotters are grey. They also have great stamina and strength. In Russia today they are used mainly for trotting races, although they are not as fast as Standardbreds or the mixed-breed Russian Trotter, so they race in their own category.  Nevertheless the quality of Orlov trotters is only getting better and now top 4yo and older Orlov trotters show great speed running 1600 around 2 minutes.

In the 20th century Standardbred stallions were crossed with Orlov Trotting mares and a new breed, the Russian Trotter appeared.

“Orlov trotters are not as clean gaited as the standardbreds and you have to wait for them longer before they sort themselves out. They may wear a lot of gear like four bell boots and they’re wrapped all round,” said Kristina.

In more recent times a third breed, the standardbred has emerged which is a fusion of European and American bloodlines.

“They buy broodmares already in foal. So they have Bold Eagles, Tactical Landings and Timokos. They also quite often buy horses that have already started their racing careers and bring them over to train and drive in Russia.”

An interesting fact – in Russia they don’t geld horses.

Although most of those that attend race meetings are older, the hard graft is done by younger staff.

“We have a lot of young people that come and volunteer and work for free and get work drives on the track. It’s very common. That’s how I got involved in the industry. We have a lot of girls in the industry. For example in the Moscow Junior Champs the years I took part, we only had one or two boys and nine girls.”

The races are controlled by officials who are called judges.

“When the race is on, the car with the judges follows the field on the inside track so they can see what’s going on. They don’t have that many cameras as we have here.”

She says the rules are different too.

“You are not allowed to push people – contact and interference is not allowed. When you make a move you have to make sure you’ve cleared the gap. They race wider than we race here. They don’t have passing lanes. If you’re somewhere in the middle of the field it’s quite hard to get out of there.”

Jackpot is the most famous trotter in Russia. He’s won all three major Group One races for three year olds, four year olds (Russian Trotting Derby) and five year old and older (twice).

He’s won 5,000,000 rubbles and has trotted 1600 metres in 1-55.3, 2400 metres in 3-01.1 and 3200 metres in 4-03.5.

Jackpot is by Cantab Hall stallion Pass Hanover whose dam Proper Incentive is by Yankee Glide – the same cross that produced Volstead.

Jackpot was bred in Russia, trained and driven by Vladimir Kondratyuk, who is also one of the top Russian drivers with more than 500 wins in the Central Region of Russia. (It’s hard to get full statistics of driver’s performance in other regions.)

He also trained famous Russian trotter Poltergeist (Gros Grain (Fr) – Palitra (Ten Pound Bass (USA) which set two current Russian records.

Perhaps the most famous Russian driver is Micheal Kozlov.

“He’s won nine Russian Derbies, has set numerous national records, has won races across Europe on Russian bred horse called Sorrento back when it was the USSR. Only at Central Moscow hippodrome he won more than 250 major races. He’s retired now.”

Kristina came to New Zealand to be with her childhood friend and now fiancée Artem Mega.

“I’ve known him since I was nine years old. He’d already moved to New Zealand and I was thinking about it for a year and decided to make the move as well. He works in construction and started on tools. Now he’s moving more to construction management.”

Having held a junior driver’s licence since 2024 Kristina has driven fifteen winners. Her first was Fernleigh Cash in the Bay of Plenty Cup at Cambridge in March 2024 for her employers Steve and Amanda Telfer.

“They’ve all been pacers (laughter). I really enjoy driving pacers to be fair. They’re so fast. It’s the difference between driving a manual (trotter) and an automatic car (pacers). It was my first start here and it was like a dream you know. It was a standing start and I’d never driven in a standing start race before. I’d never driven in a race with a pacer as well. I had driven standing workouts and trials before that race. But race day obviously feels different. I managed to beat some of the top New Zealand drivers, who I look up to every race day. It’s something I’ll always remember. I also won a Classique Landscapers Handicap Pace on Fernleigh Cash a few months later and now he’s retired.”

This season Kristina has had thirty two drives for four wins, three seconds and four thirds.

“Steve and the whole team are very nice to me. Even when something goes wrong, he always finds the right words to cheer me up and puts me on a horse again, which I’m forever grateful for.”

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink