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Budapest Business Journal www.bbj.hu | April 30 - May 14

The wild days of Hungarys wonder horse

Overdose, born an ugly duckling, became the number three sprinter in the world a real life fairy-tale, the Hungarian dream.
Andrea Fazekas He speaks on two mobiles simultaneously, shuttles from one handshake to the next and sees investors coming to him by yacht from Slovakia. Zoltn mikczy, owner of overdose, the Hungarian wonder horse, is quite busy these days. The Slovakian-Hungarian contractor certainly would not have pictured such a future when he started in the racehorse business by deciding with friends to borrow some horses from Hungary. And probably none of these would have happened if he had not hit on overdose, completely by chance, three years ago at the famous horse auction in Newmarket. The details of the bay stallions purchase became legendary, as overdose, better known by his nickname Dzi, is now regarded as the wonder horse. At the time of the auction, nobody wanted the short, lopsided thoroughbred. Neither did mikczy, not really. His fancy was caught by Dzis gait and walk, so he put up his hand, just for fun, and because the price was foolishly low for an english pureblood. The 47-year-old contractor hadnt planned to buy anything at all, because he had already bought four too many horses a month earlier. Finally, he bought Dzi for a mere 3,500, a ridiculous price for a horse who has won 12 out of 12 races, turned into a national hero and is expected to win the Ascot Derby, one of the biggest horse races in the world. overdose is now third in the world rankings; his current value is 5-7 million, which could rise exponentially if he wins his races this year.

Dzi is a horse on a mission: world domination, or else

overdose is no exception. He knows which of his runs are good and when he is celebrated by the audience after winning. He is very proud of himself. This is easy to believe if you ever see him just An oVerDose oF HeArt posing for photographers: he pushes out his bottom and stretches his forelegs, unmoving for if you think overdoses capabilities are surely moments. He pulls up his lips as if blowing a kiss. being overvalued by the enthusiastic press or his He has a few eccentricities, just like most raceteam, just watch the past races on record. The real horses. overdose sweats a lot during racing and challenges, the prestigious european and Ameri- when he is nervous. He detests it when they attach can stakes, are still to come, but Dzi has won all his box to the car with him facing backwards. He of his races with one or more lengths advantage. loves to drive at 130 km/h. How does he do it? every professional around him says its his heart. He woulDnt HAVe MADe It tHe HungArIAn seABIscuIt This is easy to see. Jockeys usually whip the horses to speed during a race, Dzis back never precisely because Dzi is such a high-strung Now the country goes on and on about over- has to be touched. in fact, this is how Sndor and proud horse, many european professiondose, who has also earned world recognition. in ribrszki, overdoses trainer recognised the horses als believe that ribrszkis patient training might fact, The New york Times reported Dzis success winning spirit. most horses had to be encouraged have been the key to his successes. edward player, and expectations on its cover page. to sprint in trainings, but Dzi had to be held back. the head of Whatton manor, home of Dzis sire, The last time Hungary or anything Hungarian The Hamburg Trophy comes to mind, when he said that if Dzi had stayed in england, he probamade the cover page was probably in 1956, when won limping on three legs after an accident. bly would have been handled as an ugly duckling. Soviet tanks rolled in to repress the revolution. Horses often have strong personalities and He might never have had the careful training that The article, titled Hungarys Spirits Are back up, would break him in without breaking him. on a Horse hinted that overdose could restore , A round of tough decisions, such as not to the countrys spirits in the current crisis the way run again in paris against rival marchand dor, Seabiscuit did during the Great Depression. or not to fly to the Hong Kong Sprint. either overdose has many names. He is called the could have ruined his health. These decisions were jointly made by mikczy and ribrszki, budapest bullet in the uK, and das Wunderpferd (wonder horse) in Germany. in Hungary, he is but were supported by the whole team. ribrszcompared to Kincsem, the countrys star mare, in kis Training Centre in Alag, home of Dzi, fact, the most successful sprinter ever, unbeaten in employs a primary jockey, several secondary all of her 54 stakes in the 1870s to 1880s. riders, a feeding specialist, a stableman and security guards hired specifically for Dzi. A DreAM coMe true The size of the team and the Alag centers services are very modest in comparison to similar overdose has changed many things since his facilities abroad. This is of course not too surprisbreakthrough. He has turned mikczys life on its ing, as racing in Hungary was a dying sport before ear, making him leave his almost 20-year-old steel overdose. And neither mikczy nor the training Dzis debut was in 2007 in Hungary, and business for horse racing, and he has also left his center has ever had a star like Dzi. mikczy conhe has been running the stakes ever since mark on the others engaged in his career, being, fesses they are just learning how to manage such then in order of importance. In 2009, he will as the New york Times article says, hopefully a celebrity. The huge press attention, for example try to add three British trophies such as the expected to stimulate reforms in the industry. is sometimes too much for the shyer members of Ascot (handed over by the Queen) to his colits a great story, Jimmy George, marketthe team and overdose himself. lection. Also, we might see him dealing with ing director of Tattersalls, europes biggest horse some unfinished business with Marchand dOr, auction house and Dzis original seller, said to eVen wonDer Horses neeD Money against whom his victory was invalidated last reporter Andrs Kepes who shot a film about the year. His jockey for the whole season is the Belhorse. He is a dream horse, a freak, and his story everywhere in the world where horse racing is gian star, Christophe Soumillon. Dzi ran in is like a romance (...) He was taken to a country a received business and a highly respected social April at Kincsem park, where he will probably event, such as in Australia, Arabia, uSA or Westwhere racing was stagnating, and now everybody never race again as he has outgrown Hungary. ern europe, the system of breeding, training and is excited about him, not only in Hungary (...)The

story is every horse-owners dream come true: get a cheap horse whom nobody wants and then wins all of the races.

running horses is well-equipped, often even luxurious. The training center where Dzi is going to stay until July is a horse paradise with a swimming pool, solarium, different gallops and practice runs, special food with herbs, etc. Naturally, it costs a lot, almost HuF 500,000 per month. Such accommodation and the other expenses of travel to transatlantic races will make overdose much more expensive. in fact, as the owner told the budapest business Journal in an exclusive scoop, their current funds will run out. (mikczys company is sponsored for this season by CiG insurance. oTp bank has also brought money to Hungarian racing because of overdose, sponsoring the national grand prix.) The owner is now on the verge of signing a contract to share overdose with two Slovakian investors. one member of the syndicate is a former classmate of mikczy, while the another got involved because he fell in love with horse racing. Further details are not decided yet, the exact terms of the agreement will be set in the near future. rIsKIng It All Dzis present rent at Alag comes to HuF 200,000 a month, which includes food, care, accommodation and training. The only other expense is his vitamins. However, everyone involved wants Dzi to have better, especially as his rivals are training in better circumstances. but mikczy does not want to take his horse abroad or sell him. He has had an almost 5 million offer, supposedly from an Arab sheikh, but Dzi is not for sale yet, for several reasons. Firstly, mikczy wants Dzi to stay Hungarian, which is important to him, being an ethnic Hungarian in Slovakia. He is also expecting the success of Dzi to translate into interest being reborn in national racing. besides, he wants to keep overdose as his own for as long as he can resist the offers. He wants to enjoy the triumph of his Wonder Horse at the stakes they have not been at yet. And he knows that the value of overdose will multiply with each stake he wins. So, now he is trying to make staying at home work out. but every day he keeps overdose running, he risks it all, hoping that his wonder horse does not have an accident.

Overdose

Photo: Anna Gyrffy

Photo: Anna Gyrffy