The grave of Pál Kállai, one of Hungary’s most successful jockeys of all time, was inaugurated at the Fiumei Street Cemetery on Thursday after the National Heritage and Remembrance Committee declared the grave a part of the National Cemetery upon the submission by Kincsem Park.
„Pál Kállai was a champion, a hero who became a legend; his career was rich and successful,”
praised the jockey Ádám Szotyori Nagy, the CEO of Kincsem Park, at Thursday’s commemoration. Pál Kállai became a champion at a young age in the early 1950s on the Budapest track. After leaving the country, he went to America, where his successful career lasted for five decades, recalled the director.
„He was a true sportsman; his life was filled with sports and competition,” emphasized Ádám Szotyori Nagy. Gábor Móczár, the Director-General of the National Heritage Institute (NÖRI), highlighted that the Fiumei Street Cemetery is not only a cemetery but also an open-air museum, a prominent gathering place for the nation’s greats. „
The Fiumei Street Cemetery reminds us not only of the wonderful deeds and self-sacrificing patriotic commitments we owe to our nation’s greats throughout Hungarian history, but also of all those who have been laid to rest here in the spirit of national respect,” he said.
Since 1884, it has operated as a heroic and historical cemetery in Budapest. He stated that the graves declared protected by the National Heritage and Remembrance Committee cannot be abolished.
These graves forever preserve the memory of those resting in them, and if necessary, NÖRI takes care of their renovation. Currently, there are about 6300 such protected graves in approximately 700 burial sites across the country, Móczár Gábor reminded. Pál Kállai (1933-2006) was one of the world’s most successful jockeys. At the age of five, he moved to Maglód, where he learned to ride on Lipizzaner horses kept at Baron Wodianer’s castle.
From 1949, after 8 months of practice, he also became a jockey, winning his fourth race in 1950. In 1956, he settled in the United States, where he lived for 16 years and became a successful jockey. In the 1960s, he was among the top twenty most sought-after jockeys in America. He rode in one of the world’s most famous races, the Kentucky Derby, in 1966. He traveled to several countries, including Canada, Turkey, Kuwait, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Russia, where the horse racing-loving audience could meet him. Since 1990, he lived in Budapest again and remained active in sports even at the age of 73. Pál Kállai won 1086 races in Hungary and 1780 races in the USA. He won the Hungarian Derby twice, in 1991 and 2000. Throughout his long career, he crossed the finish line first in 78 major grand prizes.
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