The English page - Promising two-year-olds

Baden-Baden´s Grosse Woche is now behind us, and quite apart from the spectacular victory of Ghaiyyath (Dubawi) in the Grosser Preis, one of the most interesting results was the previous day´s Zukunftsrennen, won in good style by Gestüt Schlenderhan´s homebred Alson (Areion). The German programme for two-year-olds is heavily concentrated in the late summer and autumn; while French, Irish and British juveniles are already active in the early spring, this age group does not start to race here until Baden-Baden´s Spring Meeting in early June and only really gets going from August onwards. This is because German-breds are normally regarded as late developers, and it is certainly the case that almost all leading German breeders are much more interested in producing classic contenders (i.e. three-year-olds) than the more precocious types that win the early races for youngsters. Alson, trained like all the Schlenderhan/ Ullmann horses by Jean-Pierre Carvalho, had earlier won in France and now steps up in class to contest the Group One Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère on Arc day; he is clearly the king of the German crop at present and the German handicapper has raised him to GAG 93 ½ (=international 107) for his Baden-Baden success, a very high rating for a German two-year-old at this time of year, but of course he will need to improve still further to have a chance at Longchamp.

Last weekend we had five two-year-old races in Germany and all of them were won by very promising types, who cannot be rated anywhere near Alson at present, but certainly could do so in time. Three of these races were at Düsseldorf on Sunday. The race for maiden fillies over the extended mile was won by Ittlingen´s homebred Stellina (Neatico), who made an excellent debut, coming with a powerful run from the rear to win going away by 2 1/2 lengths. She is from the family of champion Scalo (Lando), the sire of this year´s German Derby winner, and should certainly stay middle distances next year, but first she has an entry in the Preis der Winterkönigin. Surprisingly she was the first juvenile winner of 2019 for the powerful Peter Schiergen stable.

The other two Düsseldorf races both went to trainer Henk Grewe and are by Areion. Henk Grewe has almost a monopoly on this seasons´ two-year-old races here, while Areion (Big Shuffle) is almost as dominant; although now approaching the veteran stage, he is doing as well as ever this season and has already sent out the winners of eight 2yo races. Only Soldier Hollow, with three, and first season sire Amaron, with two, have sent out the winners of more than one juvenile event. Areion has been champion sire here four times and leading sire of 2yo´s three times. The only weakness is that he has never yet sired a Group One winner; he was a sprinter himself and most of his stock are effective at distances up to nine furlongs, while all of Germany´s Group Ones are over further.

The two Grewe/ Areion winners were Darius Racing´s Rubaiyat in the listed Junioren-Preis over a mile and Zavaro in the more lucrative BBAG sales race over seven furlongs. Both won in a style that suggested that they have much more in the tank, and Grewe indicated that the former will now go for the Preis des Winterfavoriten and the latter for the Ferdinand Leisten-Memorial, the most valuable German sales race of all. The Junioren-Preis has been won by many good horses, champions – both as racehorses and stallions- Soldier Hollow, Lando and Lomitas among them, and Rubaiyat, now unbeaten after two easy wins, looks as if he will go on to better things. Both these winners were relatively cheap BBAG yearlings – Rubaiyat, bred by Karlshof, fetched 26,000 euros, and Zavaro, bred by Brümmerhof, only 14,000 euros (at the October sale); they now look like real bargains.

Grewe also saddled the winner of the 2yo winner at Cologne two days earlier; this was Wonderful Moon (Sea The Moon), who made all the running to win eased down by 2 ¾ lengths. The opposition possibly was not that strong, but visually Wonderful Moon was most impressive, and he is another who could go for the Preis des Winterfavoriten, over the same course and distance and generally regarded as Germany´s top 2yo event. Wonderful Moon, bred by Görlsdorf, is another graduate of the BBAG Yearling Sale, but was more expensive, costing 55,000 euros; the way he won at Cologne, he now looks worth every penny and more.

Henk Grewe does not however have a complete monopoly on these races and at Munich suffered a rare reverse when his Night Fever (Dylan Thomas), starting at 5-1 on, was defeated by locally-trained Prince Oliver (Penny´s Picnic), who made all the running in pouring rain to score by three lengths. The French-bred winner cost only 7,000 euros at the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale and looks another bargain, as he is very well bred and from the family of superstar sires Street Cry and Shamardal. His third dam Helen Street (Troy) won the Irish Oaks and this is a top Ballymacoll family. Trainer Michael Figge stated that he could go next for the Ratiror-Rennen.

There are more two-year-old races this coming weekend, but by far the most important event is the Deutsches St. Leger at Dortmund on Sunday.  This weekend sees an idiotic clash between this race and the much more important St. Leger at Doncaster on Saturday and the Irish version at the Curragh on Sunday, both Group One races. The Doncaster race is not only the world´s oldest classic, it is now the only St. Leger restricted to three-year-olds, i.e. a “true” classic. There is a maximum field of 14 at Dortmund, but Newmarket raider Ispolini (Dubawi) is the highest-rated runner and can give Charlie Appleby and Godolphin another success.

David Conolly-Smith