The English page: Four black type races at Hannover

By far the best race in Germany this week is Munich´s Group One Grosser Preis von Bayern on All Saints´ Day, but for technical reasons these lines are written before that late season feature, which has attracted a strong international field. The result and commentary (in German) can be found elsewhere in this issue.

Last weekend we had an excellent card at Hanover, featuring four black type races, one of which admittedly was transferred from Cologne, the listed seven furlongs race which had had to be voided following a false start. There was an exciting finish, with Cherry Lady (Soldier Hollow)- finding a gap very late to swoop inside the final furlong and score by three parts of a length from Zargun (Rock of Gibraltar), who had made the running, with Shining Emerald (Clodovil) and Celebrity, a Shamardal half-sister to the winner, close up in third and fourth. Cherry Lady had on her previous start been runner-up in a similar race here and started second favourite. She and Celebrity are the first two foals out of Irish-bred Cherry Danon (Rock of Gibraltar), who won a group race for her owner-breeder Gestüt Brümmerhof and was also runner-up in the German 1,000 Guineas. They will obviously be valuable additions to Brümmerhof´s classy broodmare herd; the stud is owned by Gregor Baum and his wife Julia. He is also the president of the race club at Hanover, one of the most progressive racecourses in Germany. It was a good day for them, as they also had a two-year-old winner, the Pivotal filly Anna Pivola, who won over a mile in very nice style earlier on the card and looks a good prospect. Her dam is an own sister to the unraced dam of Australian Group One winners and Darley sires Epaulette and Helmet – the latter due to stand at Fährhof from, next year.

Main event was the Group Three Grosser Preis der Mehl-Mülhens-Stiftung for fillies and mares  over eleven furlongs, which ended with the very convincing victory of Jaber Abdullah´s homebred Sand Zabeel, a daughter of Poet´s Voice, who has had such a good posthumous season. Abadan (Samum) made the running at a good pace considering the conditions, but he was overtaken by Taraja (High Chaparral) early in the straight; the latter looked sure to win, but Sand Zabeel came with a powerful late run and cut him down without too much fuss to score by a length and a quarter, with the rest, headed by Abadan, well back. Sand Zabeel had won the Italian Oaks earlier in the season, but had then disappointed when only eighth in the German equivalent; however trainer Andreas Wöhler explained that she had picked up a minor injury in that race and this was her first run since; she is to stay in training next season.

Sand Zabeel was offered for sale at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale (Book Three) but was led out unsold at 19,000 guineas. She is a half-sister to Paris Cross (Cape Cross), who was listed-placed for the same owner/ trainer combination in 2014. The dam Samira Gold (Gold Away) was bred in France, but also ran in Jaber Abdullah´s colours, being placed twice in listed races in the U.K. She is from the family of Group One winners Le Havre and Polar Falcon.

The listed Grosser Soldier Hollow Preis for 2yo fillies was appropriately enough won by a daughter of Soldier Hollow, who is having a tremendous year and is certain to be champion sire again by a huge margin. Axana, owned and bred by Sergej Penner, led a long way from home and won unchallenged by two and a quarter lengths from British raider Feel Glorious (Bated Breath). The runner-up was sold a couple of days later for 125,000 guineas at Tattersalls and will continue her career in the USA. The winner´s second dam Via Borghese (Seattle Dancer) was a Group Two winner in the USA.

The listed mile race appeared to be at the mercy of Wonnemond (Areion), one of Germany´s top milers who had plenty in hand on ratings, but he was never going well and in the end could only finish second to longshot Armance (Tai Chi), who was held up in mid-division, but finished well and probably won with more in hand than the official margin of three parts of a length. Armance´s dam Argannza (Sinndar) never ran, but her own dam Artistica (Spectrum) was group race-placed and also a half-sister to Grand Prix de Paris winner Montmartre (Montjeu). It capped a fine day for her breeder, Gestüt Hachtsee, who also owned the Group Three runner-up Taraja and in the first race had seen their homebred 2yo Peppone (Pastorius) make a spectacular debut, winning a maiden race by a long-looking four lengths.

This Sunday´s Herzog von Ratibor-Rennen at Krefeld is the final German group race of the year. Mick Channon has a good record in German juvenile events, and his Certain Lad (Clodovil) looks the one to beat; he is the most experienced runner in the field, having won three of his seven starts. Surprisingly for a race of this grade, most of his opponents are still maidens, but at least Accon (Camelot) and the supplemented Say Good Buy (Showcasing) were second and third in the valuable sales race at Baden-Baden recently. Zerostress (Areion) is another supplementary entry and did win his maiden well, but the main opponent for Certain Lad should be Darius Racing´s Donjah (Teofilo), the only filly in the field, who was a spectacular winner of her maiden at Cologne three weeks ago. She was very slowly away, but then ate up the ground in the straight to win going away by 4½ lengths. She was a 100,000 euros BBAG yearling purchase, a half-sister to two listed-placed performers and out of an Italian listed-placed mare from an American family which has also done well in Germany. Certain Lad has the form in the book, but has to concede her weight and she could be anything.

David Conolly-Smith