to host an intercontinental stakes
series. The winners of the track's G2
Diana-Trial is offered a trip to the
Grade I Belmont Oaks, and the win-
ner of the G2 Oleander-Rennen can
head to the Belmont Gold Cup Invi-
tational. In 2017, Red Cardinal took
up that invitation, came to Belmont,
and won the race.
I was moved to visit Hoppegarten
when I read a letter from the owner,
Gerhard Schöningh, on the track's
website. Schöningh is the race-
course's savior, rescuing the track
in 2008 when he purchased it from
the state. He has poured money, re-
sources, energy and ideas into the
course, turning it into the `Field of
Dreams' of racing—a place where
you go and remember why you liked
racing so much in the first place.
Located an easy, 45-minute train
ride from downtown Berlin, Hop-
pegarten used to be the Newmarket
or Chantilly of Germany. About 12
miles east of the Berlin city center, it
opened in 1868, and was the perenni-
al home and training center to about
1,000 horses. Almost every German
Classic race was held at the track.
But when Berlin was divided into
East and West in 1945, Hoppegarten
found itself behind the Iron Curtain.
The top racehorses were moved to
