Breeding & Racing in Germany
In order to be of assistance to our growing number of readers from abroad, we are with immediate effect publishing in every issue of Turf Times an English page, giving in compact form all the latest racing and breeding news from Germany in English.
When we introduced “The English page” in Turf Times a few years ago, there was no question about the author. Our English readers could not be better informed about what was happening here than by David Conolly-Smith. Born in Nottingham, the Englishman, correspondent for various British and Irish specialist newspapers, German representative of the International Racing Bureau, contact point for all active people from the island, lived in Munich and horse racing was his passion. He passed away on July 9, 2023 at the age of 83. It was his wish that Shannon Patricia Spratter should continue the English-language column in his place. He was friends with her father, the Irish-born trainer John David hillis, wo is working in Munich, and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Our columnist briefly introduces herself here.
Writes the column for the English-speaking Turf Times readers: Shannon Spratter with her father, former jockey and current gallop trainer, John David Hillis. Foto: privat
My name is Shannon Patricia Spratter and I was born into racing through my father, former jockey and now trainer, John David Hillis and mother, Jeanette Spratter.
Due to the recommendation of David Conolly-Smith, I have taken over his part with great enthusiasm and now write the English edition about our German racing.
When I'm not in front of the computer writing texts or pursuing my main job, I spend my time at my father's racing stable. My favourite hobby is riding races as an amateur.
Godolphin choose their targets well and Best Solution (Kodiac) provided the Sheikh Mohammed-owned stable with their second German Group One victory in Germany in the space of a fortnight when winning a dramatic Grosser Preis von Berlin at Hoppegarten last Sunday. Two weeks ago Benbatl (Dubawi), also trained by Saeed bin Suroor, had taken the Grosser Dallmayr-Preis at Munich, Germany´s top ten furlongs event. Both these winners could be on a plane to Australia before long, as the Melbourne Cup and the Cox Plate respectively have been mentioned as their main autumn targets.
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When Rüdiger Alles (German International Bloodstock/ IVA) paid 880,000 guineas in 1993 for the Niarchos-bred filly Wells Whisper (Sadlers Wells) on behalf of the Ullmann/ Schlenderhan stable, hopes were clearly very high. This was a huge price for those days, but Wells Whisper came with an extremely strong catalogue page. The dam Whakilyric (Miswaki) had not only been a very useful performer and Group One-placed in her racing career, but she had already bred several top notch performers, notably the young filly´s own brother Johann Quatz (winner of the Prix Lupin, third in the Arlington Million and subsequently runner-up in the Breeders´ Cup Mile) as well as her half-brother Hernando (Niniski), winner that year of the Prix du Jockey Club and runner-up in the Irish Derby and Arc.
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Einen Großen Dallmayr-Preis 2018 mit einem triumphalen Sieger erlebten an diesem Sonntagnachmittag 15.000 Zuschauer in München-Riem. Das mächtige Godolphin-Quartier schickte Benbatl an den Start, der im März beim renommierten Dubai World Cup-Tag den Dubai Turf und 3 Millionen Euro gewinnen konnte. Um 100.000 Euro ging es im Münchner Gruppe I-Rennen, das wie immer eine ausgezeichnete Besetzung erfahren hatte und so stand der von Saeed bin Suroor trainierte Hengst bei lukrativen 23:10 am Totalisator. Oisin Murphy, der den Vierjährigen bereits bei seinem Sieg in Meydan reiten konnte, fackelte am Start nicht lange und übernahm sofort die Spitze um das Tempo nach seinem Belieben gestalten zu können.
Hier geht es zum kompletten Renntag mit allen Ergebnissen:Klick!
weiterlesen »Racing has been at a low level for the past ten days in Germany, with the attractive holiday resort of Bad Harzburg holding centre stage; they have mainly handicaps and maiden races there and no black type events (except for one listed race over hurdles run after these lines are written). However we did have an interesting listed sprint race at Hoppegarten on Wednesday evening. This was run over the straight five furlongs of the Berlin track and ended with a complete eclipse of the favourites. Four of the 2017 field reappeared, but while Daring Match (Call me Big) had won the race in both 2016 and 2017 and is generally regarded as Germany´s top performer over this specialist distance, he made little show this time and could only finish fifth behind the four-year-old filly Artistica (Areion), who held on from the fast-finishing Austrian-trained Pretorian (Sakhee´s Secret), who was only sixth last year.
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Hamburg's Derby meeting began last weekend, and for a change they have been very lucky with the weather: sunny and warm (but not too hot) conditions every day and that is forecast to continue all week without a drop of rain. The ground has been in much better condition than has often been the case in the past.
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The most interesting race in Germany last weekend was the Group Three Grosser Preis der Wirtschaft at Dortmund over 1750 metres, a race jointly sponsored by 59 local companies. Gestüt Röttgen´s homebred Degas (Exceed and Excel) won an exciting race, coming from last place with a late run to score by half a length from long-time leader Palace Prince (Areion), with Cashman (Soldier of Fortune), who had been runner-up here last year, a close third.
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Perceptions can change quickly, in racing as in life, and the idea that this year´s Deutsches Derby was a foregone conclusion after the victories of the Andreas Wöhler-trained Royal Youmzain (Youmzain) in the Bavarian Classic at Munich and more especially the Ittlingen Derby-trial at Baden-Baden, must now reconsidered after last Sunday´s Group Two Union-Rennen at Cologne. Traditionally the Union-Rennen, the oldest race in the German calendar, has always been regarded as the most reliable Derby trial, but that has seldom been the case in recent years. Only Wiener Walzer in 2009 and Sea The Moon in 2014 have done the double in the past fifteen years.
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There were more International successes for the German racing and breeding industries last weekend. A Raving Beauty (Mastercraftsman), who last year was trained for owner-breeder Gestüt Karlshof to win a listed race at Hoppegarten and finish runner-up in an Italian Group One, was sold at the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale to her American owners for 225,000 euros and has won back far more than this amount by winning her first two races in the USA, notably last Saturday´s Group One Just A Game Stakes at Belmont Park; she is closely related to multiple group race winner Alianthus (Hernando), one of the best German milers this century.
weiterlesen »Last weekend was a very successful one for the German racing and breeding industries. At home, the Baden-Baden Spring Meeting went well, while abroad there were several significant performances in top races by German-breds.
weiterlesen »There have been several outsider winners in this year´s European Guineas races, but this was not the case at Düsseldorgf last Sunday, when the Mark Johnson-trained Nyaleti (Arch) started as 23-10 favourite and ran out a very easy winner of the WEMPE 98th German 1,000 Guineas, Bred in Ireland by SF Bloodstock, Nyaleti, who was running for the twelfth (!) time, had shown some very smart form at two, including a five lengths success in Ascot´s Princess Margaret Stakes, she was regarded as a live candidate for the Newmarket Guineas, but a couple of poor efforts in the spring caused her connections to scale down their expectations. However she showed better form when beating older fillies in a listed race at Goodwood and showed at Düsseldorf that she was right back to her best when accounting for a devent field of locally-trained fillies with the utmost ease.
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There was plenty of racing in Germany over the long Whit weekend, with some convincing victories and some big surprises. As it happens, the most convincing winner also caused the greatest surprise; that was Stall Ullmann´s Ancient Spirit (Invincible Spirit) who made almost all the running to win the Group Two Mehl-Mülhens-Rennen (German 2,000 Guineas) in spectacular style. He was the outsider of the field at just over 21-1, and he was by some margin the lowest-rated runner, but there was certainly no fluke about his success. He was wearing blinkers for the first time, which was possibly a factor. At any rate, he started slowly and was last after 100 yards; after another 100 yards he was in front and tearing away. Often enough, horses that run like that fade away again as quickly as they came, but not Ancient Spirit, who kept on strongly to the line and could be called the easy winner a long way from home.
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The Berlin racecourse Hoppegarten celebrates its 150th birthday this year; it was officially opened on May 17th 1868 by the Prussian King Wilhelm I and his chancellor Otto von Bismarck. The racetrack was organized and funded by the , an association of Prussian landowners, aristocrats and Berlin socialites. Within a few years, Germany had been united under Prussian leadership, Berlin was the capital of the German Reich, the King was now a Kaiser and Hoppegarten had quickly become the leading racecourse and training centre in the country. Well over 1,000 horses were in training, wealthy owner-breeders like the Oppenheims from Cologne and the Weinbergs from Frankfurt established large stables here.
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