The English page - A Dream in the Guineas

Last Sunday´s Mehl-Mülhens-Rennen (German 2,000 Guineas) at Cologne was not only the best race of the season so far but also had the most exciting finish. Jaber Abdullah´s Poetic Dream (Poet´s Voice) got up in the final strides to win by a neck from British challenger Lockheed (Exceed and Excel) with Empire of the Star (Siyouni) only a short head away in third. To be honest, one would not have given a penny for Poetic Dream´s chances two furlongs out, where he was boxed in on the rails with nowhere to go and briefly dropped back to last place.

One of three runners trained by Andreas Wöhler, he was the choice of stable jockey Eduardo Pedroza, and Eddie showed admirable restraint as he sat ans suffered and waited for a gap to appear. He was rewarded for his patience when Lockheed, who had made most of the running with Empire of the Star in close attendance, drifted to his left at the distance, taking his rival with him. The gap was there, Poetic Dream quickened in impressive style and must have made up five lengths on the leading pair in the final furlong to put his head in front just in time. He would have been unlucky loser had he not won, as he was almost certainly the best horse in the race and also the pick of the paddock.

Poetic Dream, whose dam Zain al Boldan (Poliglote) won the Lingfield Oaks Trial and was a half-sister to group-winning miler Svedov, was having only the third race of his career and looks certain to show further improvement. Wöhler considers that he should get ten furlongs easily enough and his next race is likely to be a Group Two over that distance in France. Connections were happy with Lockheed, who was clearly not disgraced on his seasonal debut, pleased his connections despite the narrow defeat, while Wöhler´s second runner Empire of the Star is likely to stay at a mile. Of the rest, Dragon Lips (Footstepsinthesand) also ran well enough; he was also a bit short of room, but could not quicken when the chips were down, but still finished in front of the four rivals who had all been behind him in the Dr. Busch-Memorial. The form looks reliable and Poetic Dream has been given a provisional rating of 111 (GAG 95.5), well up to par for the race.

This result capped an excellent week for Andreas Wöhler; the Gütersloh trainer had the previous saddled two fillies to win at Düsseldorf, both of whom are now on course for the Group One Preis der Diana (Oaks). The first was the Darboven stable´s homebred  Prima Violetta (Areion), who made an impressive debut over the extended mile, coming from last place with an irresistible run to win going away by two and a half lengths. This looked quite a decent race on paper and Prima Violetta definitely looks a filly to follow; in view of her inexperience, Wöhler plans to run her twice more before the Preis der Diana in early August.  Two hours later it was Rashit Shaykhutdinov´s French-bred Megera (Motivator), who ran out a comfortable winner of the listed race over 2100 metres; she is experienced enough, and will now go straight to the Diana, says Wöhler. Gestüt Röttgen´s Alicanta (Lando) was runner-up here after a very unhappy race and should certainly not be written off.

These lines are being written from Baden-Baden, where the Spring Meeting started on Wednesday, and continues through Sunday. The main events to come are the listed Kronimus Diana-Trial and the Group Three Silberne Peitsche on Saturday, as well as the Group Three Ittllngen Derby-Trial and the Group Two Grosser Preis der Badischen Wirtschaft on Sunday. All these events have strong, but relatively small fields.

The two classic trials have attracted leading candidates from most of the top stables. This is especially true of Sunday´s race, in which Wöhler saddles Langtang (Campanologist), generally regarded as his main Derby candidate; Peter Schiergen runs Enjoy Vijay (Nathaniel), his big Derby hope, and Jean-Pierre Carvalho Instigator (Nayef), such an impressive winner on his debut. Saturday´s field include three unbeaten fillies, with Gestüt Brümmerhof´s homebred Anna Magnolia (Makfi) expected to start favourite. French raider Thanx for Nothing (Myboycharlie), winner of the Swiss 1,000 Guineas, is top-rated but is likely to find conditions too fast in the mini heatwave we are currently enjoying.

Many of Germany´s top older horses are running in the other two races. Carvalho´s Donnerschlag (Bahamian Bounty) is the forecast favourite in the Silberne Peitsche (Silver Whip), following his success in the Golden Whip last year, with three of these rivals behind. The two three-year-old fillies Artistica (Areion), a listed winner at Nottingham a fortnight ago, and Sunny Belle (Exceed and Excel) have a considerable weight advantage and add spice to the mixture.

Sunday´s big race has only six runners, and it is possible the firm going will reduce this further. Dschingis Secret (Soldier Hollow), was a very easy winner of the Gerling-Preis three weeks ago; the third in last year´s German Derby crosses swords again with fourth-placed Wai Key Star (Soldier Hollow), who now has a significant weight pull. Iquitos (Adlerflug) won this last year and went on to take the Grosser Preis at the summer meeting; at his best he could win, but it is his first race since his respectable seventh place in the Japan Cup and he is reported to need the race;.like Guignol (Cape Cross), winner of last year´s Grosser Preis von Bayern, he would prefer easier going. Va Bank (Archipenko) is the only foreign runner; the Polish 5yo was a good winner here last summer but meets better opposition this time.

David Conolly-Smith