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.
Cologne's Group One Preis von Europa, run last Sunday, used to be one of the most valuable races in Europe; this is no longer the case, but we saw a good race with a very deserving winner: Stall Nizza's Nightflower (Dylan Thomas), who on her previous two starts had been runner-up in the Preis der Diana and Grosser Preis von Baden.
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Last Sunday's Deutsches St. Leger at Dortmund ended with two four-year-old fillies taking the first two places, hardly a compliment to the current classic crop in Germany, which has been further weakened by the late news that Derby winner Nutan (Duke of Marmalade) is injured and has been retired.
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This is a relatively quiet period for German racing, between the end of the Grosse Woche at Baden-Baden twelve days ago and the Europa-Meeting at Cologne at the end of next week. The only group race last weekend was the Grosse Europa Meile at Munich, and this weekend it will be the German St. Leger atDortmund, both Group Three races.
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The group races at Baden-Baden last week had, to be honest, little strength in depth, and the late withdrawal of the likely favourite Ito (Adlerflug) from Sunday´s Grosser Preis was a bitter blow, not only to owner/ breeder Gestüt Schlenderhan and trainer Jean-Pierre Carvalho (who had taken the same race the previous year with Ivanhowe), but also to the racecourse, who lost one of its main attractions and had in addition to pay back thousands of euros in bets on the non-runner. Ito was originally pencilled in for the Prix de l´Arc de Triomphe, but that now looks highly unlikely, as he is to miss this Sunday´s Prix Foy as well (that was Plan B) and the Preis von Europa at Cologne in a fortnight´s time now looks the probable target.
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Baden-Baden's Grosse Woche is in full swing, with some highlights already behind us and two more strong cards to come – not to mention today´s (Friday´s) BBAG yearling sale, Germany's most important bloodstock sale by far, with plenty of owners, agents, trainers and breeders present from as far away as Hong Kong, Australia and the USA (all countries in which German-breds have starred in recent years) as well as all the usual European suspects.
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Today (Friday) sees the start of Germany's most important race meeting, the Grosse Woche at Baden-Baden. Although today's card is actually rather feeble, from tomorrow onwards there is a group race on every one of the meeting's last six days, usually backed up by a listed race as well. On Saturday we have the Preis der Sparkassen Finanzgruppen over ten furlongs, in which Lucky Lion (High Chaparral), winner of last year's Group One Grosser Dallmayr-Preis, appears extremely well treated by the race conditions, and gets weight all round.
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The most interesting race run last weekend in Germany was the Grosser Preis der Sparkasse Krefeld for three-year-olds over an extended ten furlongs at Krefeld. This event, previously run at Baden-Baden as the Fürstenberg-Rennen, is traditionally a race for horses that failed to win the German Derby and five of the eight declared runners (one later withdrawn because of the very soft ground) had met at Hamburg, with Palace Prince (Areion) doing by far the best of them in second place.
weiterlesen »Last Sunday's Grosser Preis von Berlin was arguably the best race of the season so far in Germany. Now back in its traditional home at Hoppegarten, it attracted eight runners, five of them with realistic chances, headed by this year's German Derby winner Nutan (Duke of Marmalade) and the much improved four-year-olds Ito (Adlerflug) and Newmarket raider Second Step (Dalakhani), as well as last year's winner Sirius (Dashing Blade) and the dangerous Australian-owned Singing (Singspiel).
The complete race video, photos and full result here (under "Renndetails"/Second Step/No. 4: click!
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Turfdonna (Doyen) won last Sunday's 157th Henkel-Preis der Diana (German Oaks) at Düsseldorf to give Ravensberg trainer Andreas Wöhler his third German classic of the season. It could so easily have been four, but Wöhler's two main candidates for last month´s German Derby, Karpino (Cape Cross) and Quasillo (Sea The Stars) both had to be withdrawn because of a late setback.
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The Grosser Dallmayr-Preis run last Sunday over ten furlongs at Munich, is by far Germany's top middle distance race of the season and is in fact the only German Group One run over less than eleven furlongs. It has been won by many champion racehorses over the years, but whether the latest winner, Stall Ullmann's Guiliani (Tertullian) will belong in this category remains to be seen. It was rather a messy race and started badly when the British contestant, Ralph Beckett´s Air Pilot, who had been supplemented, had to be withdrawn after injuring himself in the stalls.
weiterlesen »This has been a relatively quiet week in German racing, although the highly popular summer meeting at Bad Harzburg has been attracting some decent crowds. This week long fixture in a resort area of the Harz mountains is always a crowd-puller, but even its greatest fans will admit that most of the sport on offer is at a low level. They are however making an effort to upgrade the racing, and Saturday's BBAG sales race for three-year-olds over an extended nine furlongs will be the most valuable race ever staged at the track. There are some quite well-bred types running as well, notably the Russian-owned Navigator, who is by Dashing Blade out of an own sister to King George winner Novellist. He was also the most expensive, having cost 160,000 euros.
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The most interesting race from the German point of view this week was the Group Two Prix Maurice de Nieuil, the main supporting feature on the Bastille Day card at Longchamp. Two of the six runners in this race for older horses over one and three-quarters miles were German-bred, and in a desperate finish they took the first two places, Gestüt Aesculap's Walzertakt (Montjeu) rallying strongly in the final stages to get back up and defeat Bathyrhon (Monsun) by a short head.
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