The English page - Derby in focus

This is the time of year when thoughts are concentrated on the Derby. We have already had the Epsom and Chantilly versions. Last Sunday we had the Oppenheim – Union-Rennen at Cologne, the most important trial for the Deutsches Derby, which be run at Hamburg on July 2^nd, one day after the Irish Derby at the Curragh.

Every racing nation has its own Derby, and two minor (with all due respect) ones are worth a mention. Last Sunday also saw the Spanish Derby run in Madrid, and it was won by German-bred  Wild King (Samum), who was bred by Gestüt Etzean and cost 18,000 euros as a BBAG yearling. This seems a very civil price in view of his pedigree, as he represents a family which has been very successful, mainly for Gestüt Röttgen. He is a half-brother to Group One-placed Path Wind (Anabaa) and is very closely related to Group Two winner Wild Side (Sternkönig), herself dam of another Group Two winner in the shape of Wild Coco (Shiroccco). Coming up next month is the Slovakian Derby at Bratislava, which has repeatedly win by German raiders. Jaber Abdullah´s Royal Music  (Teofilo) was a convincing winner of a maiden race at Krefeld last Saturday and is now apparently going to run there. He is Irish-bred and his owner is Dubaian, but he is trained by Andreas Wöhler and was ridden by Bratislava-born  Jozef Bojko, the stable´s second jockey, who is likely to be in the saddle again.

Of much more significance however is the German Derby and the Union-Rennen  has produced a new favourite for that classic in Stall Reckendorf´s Colomano (Cacique), who finished strongly to defeat  Gestüt Röttgen´s homebred Windstoss (Shirocco) by half a length. The result was a triumph for trainer Markus Klug, who is based at Röttgen and saddled four runners, which included the winner, the runner-up, third-placed Northsea Star (Sea The Stars) and fifth-placed Shanjo (Soldier Hollow). Only Qatar Racing´s Warring States (Victoire Pisa) in fourth prevented the stable from a clean sweep. Stall Ullmann´s Monreal (Peintre Celebre) finished sixth and  the other two runners were a long way back. The first four can certainly be expected to run in the Derby itself and none of them can be totally written off.

However Colomano was the star of the show and is now quoted at around 7-2 for Hamburg. He was the highest-rated runner coming into the race and more than confirmed his rating, which has now been upped to 112 (96 GAG). He seems almost certain to start the Derby as the number one on the racecard (i.e. the top-rated runner), unless some unexpected star is supplemented from abroad. Colomano had won the prestigious Herzog von Ratibor Rennen at two and on his only previous start in 2017 had been an unlucky fourth in the Dr. Busch-Memorial over a mile – a distance which is clearly far too short. The eleven furlongs trip at Cologne demands far less stamina than the mile and a half at Hamburg, but on breeding Colomano should certainly get the Derby trip.

He was bred by Stiftung Gestüt Fährhof and traces back to one of their foundation mares Crape Band (Crepello). She proved to be a major success at stud and her son Caracol (Tanerko) won the Grosser Preis von Baden. Her daughter Colima (Neckar) was the second dam of Comprida (Windwurf), who won both German fillies´ classics in 1986) and is in her turn the second dam of Colomano. Markus Klug picked him out as a yearling  as a suitable purchase for the Reckendorfs and he was well bought at 43,000 euros at the BBAG Yearling Sale in 2015. Of course it is no certainty that Colomano will win the Derby. In fact Union-Rennen winners have a surprisingly poor record in the race, the only recent dual winner being Sea The Moon (Sea The Stars), also trained by Markus Klug. He was also ridden by Andreas Helfenbein at Cologne but he was replaced by Christophe Soumillon at Hamburg. It is possible that Helfenbein, at 49 the oldest active jockey in Germany, could again miss out, as in theory the injured Adrie de Vries is Klug´s first jockey.

A different classic race is on the menu this weekend: the German 1,000 Guineas at Düsseldorf. British trainers have won this four times this century and there must be a good chance of another victory with two Newmarket runners entered – William Haggas´ Cristal Fizz (Power) and Hugo Palmer´s supplemented Unforgetable (sic) Filly (Sepoy). The former was eighth in the Poule d Essai des Pouliches last time, while the latter finjushed sixth in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket and then ran out an easy winner of the listed Edinburgh Gin Fillies´ Stakes atMusselburgh. Cistal Fizz will be partnered by Pat Cosgrave, who rode the recent runner-up in the Mehl-Mülhens-Rennen for Haggas, while Palmer, who won the race last year with the recent Belmont Park group winner Hawksmoor (Azamour) and has booked the same jockey, James Doyle. There is probably very little between the two Newmarket fillies, but your correspondent has a slight preference for Unforgetable Filly. She was apparently spelt that way to keep her name below the 18 letters maximum.

Andreas Wöhler has won the German 1,000 Guineas three times in the last ten years and he saddles the main home hope, Australian Bloodstock´s  Delectation (Delegator). She was an easy winner of the Cologne trial, with Hargeisa (Speightstown) and Peace in Motion (Hat Trick) dead-heating for third place, Arazza (Areion) fifth, Viva la Flora (Liang Kay) in sixth and Alwina ((Areion) eighth. They all reoppose on Sunday – as well as a couple more - but it is hard to see them overturning the form, even though Delectation subsequently ran badly at Deauville where she finished well behind Cristal Fizz. However the ground was very bad that day and we can expect a much better performance on the likely much faster going at Düsseldorf.

David Conolly-Smith