The English page - Highs and lows for Andreas Wöhler

Last weekend was very eventful for leading trainer Andreas Wöhler and showed once more how close together the highs and lows of racing can be. On Saturday he sent his 5yo Rolando (Campanologist) to win the Grand Prix there, part of the lucrative Defi du Galop series.  And the following day, his 8yo gelding Potemkin (New Approach) won the Group Three Grosser Preis der Wirtschaft at Dortmund after making all the running under stable jockey  Eduardo Pedroza. This was a good performance under top weight by Potemkin, who was winning the race for the second time on his seasonal debut; he has now won 14 races, including the Group One (then) Premio Roma and the Group Two Prix Dollar (probably a better performance) and earned almost 600,000 euros for his owners Klaus Allofs and breeder Gestüt Fährhof after costing 180,000 euros as a BBAG yearling.  Klaus Allofs and his wife Ute are among the most popular characters in German racing; in younger years he was a highly successful football player, captain of the German national team, and later football manager, but racing has always been his passion. Most of his horses, like Rolando and Potemkin, have been Fährhof-breds bought at the BBAG Yearling Sale and then owned in partnership with Fährhof. Potemkin is probably not as smart now as he was in his prime, but is still capable of scoring at this level: he did well in the Defi du Galop last year and will probably be back in France for his next race, while Rolando will certainly continue to be aimed at the series this year.

Wöhler himself was not at Dortmund to see his stalwart win; he was at Hanover, where he had two runners in the listed Derby trial, the last possible occasion for three-year-olds to book their ticket for the Group One Deutsches Derby, to be run at Hamburg on the Sunday of next week. Here he experienced the highs and lows mentioned earlier, as one of his runners won in good style, while his more fancied Peppone (Pastorius) tragically suffered a ruptured aorta during the race and died. This of course can happen at any time, and is totally impossible to predict or prevent, but it was a bitter pill for owner-breeder Gestüt Hachtsee to swallow, as Peppone was regarded as a major prospect.

The winner was Hans Wirth´s homebred Ashrun (Authorized), who was held up in last place for the first half of the race, but came with a strong run on the outside to lead inside the final furlong and win well by 1 ½ lengths from Beam Me Up (Sea the Moon). This looked good, but Ashrun is not in the Derby, and Wöhler has since made it clear that he will not be supplemented. Beam Me Up however is expected to run, but is unlikely to be trainer Markus Klug´s main hope.

The Hamburg Derby meeting starts this Saturday and goes on for seven racedays, culminating in the Derby itself on the final day. One obvious problem at the moment is the weather. The whole of Germany is currently in the grip of a brutal heatwave, which is expected to last until the middle of next week: temperatures for the opening weekend are forecast to be well over 30 degrees, although the second weekend should be cooler. There has been very little rain and hardly any is expected. The going therefore looks as if it will be on the fast side of good for the whole meeting. Horses that need soft ground are clearly going to be at a disadvantage and there are likely to be some small fields.

Main feature on the opening day is the listed Langer Hamburger over two miles. Six runners have been declared, and on ratings it can only be between Adler (Adlerflug) and Berghain (Medicean). They have met repeatedly, including in this race last year, when they finished third and fourth respectively. Berghain has actually run three times in this race already, but has yet to finish in the first three, so possibly Adler has a slight advantage. The two five-year-old mares Abadan (Samum) and Anna Magnolia (Makfi), who is moving up in trip, look next best.

There will also be six runners in Sunday´s main feature, the Group Two Grosser Hansa-Preis, but this looks a fascinating race and all the runners can be given some sort of chance. The most interesting could be the filly Skyful Sea (Sea The Stars), who ran really well when runner-up in the Group Three Derby Trial at Baden-Baden. Three-year-old fillies are extremely well treated by the race conditions here, though jockey Andrasch Starke will have to sweat to get down to the required weight. French challenger French King (French Fifteen) won a similar race at Cologne last time, with Alounak (Camelot) and Colomano (Cacique) behind. Colomano, who has since won a small race, was runner-up in this race last year, while Oriental Eagle (Campanologist) made all the running to win the Cologne race last year won this time by French King. Wöhler´s Royal Youmzain (Youmzain) looks the one they all have to beat; he was a close third in the German Derby over this course and distance and made a good seasonal debut when runner-up in a similar race at Baden-Baden. However it will be interesting to see if he can concede a stone to Skyful Sea; her trainer Peter Schiergen won this race in 2015 with Lovelyn, also a three-year-old filly with Andrasch Starke getting down to his minimum weight to ride.

The fields for next week´s races are not yet out. Monday´s highlight is a Group Three for fillies and mares over a mile. The older horses look eminently beatable, and the two three-year-olds Axana and Shalona, both daughters of Soldier Hollow and a close second and third in the German 1,000 Guineas a month ago, look the logical favourites. On Wednesday there is a Group Three over six furlongs, with most of Germany´s top specialists over this distance engaged. Namos (Medicean) won the Silberne Peitsche at Baden-Baden in good style, and would be the selection, but it is possible he will run in Deauville instead. Next week we shall look at the races for the following weekend with the main emphasis clearly on the IDEE 150th Deutsches Derby, the most valuable race of the German season.

David Conolly-Smith