The English page - Rainy weekend

Last weekend was undoubtedly the busiest so far in the new German season, and also the wettest. We had five racing days; and it seemed to rain almost the the whole time. They included group races, two often important classic trials and three more listed races. The two classic trials were the Dr. Busch Memorial at over the extended mile at Krefeld, and the Bavarian Classic over ten furlongs at Munich. It can certainly be assumed that the heavy going suited the two winners. At Krefeld it was Brave Emperor (Sioux Nation), trained in Lambourne by Archie Watson, who made all the running under Luke Morris and scored with plenty in hand. He had run several good races during the winter on all-weather tracks in England and France and clearly had no problem with the conditions. The gelding is likely to run next at Royal Ascot and could well follow up there.

The race at Munich is usually the top early season trial for the German Derby and numerous horses have done the double. Cologne trainer Henk Grewe has started the season in great style and has already three group race victories to his credit. This time it was Mr. Hollywood (Iquitos) who had already created a very positive impression when winning his previous race on very heavy going at Mülheim. It remains to be seen whether he needs this going, but he certainly acts well when the mud is flying. As a result of these two easy victories he is now quoted by most German bookies as ante-post favourite for the Derby. This was an excellent result for his father Iquitos, a relatively small horse, who loved left-handed tracks. He started his stud career in 2019 and has made a very promising start despite very small crops so far.

The form of the leading German 3yo´s seems to working out well the placed horses have certainly confirmed this. Runner-up Alpenjäger (Nutan) had won last season´s Ratibor-Rennen by seven lengths, always one of the top juvenile events. The German handicapper has put Mr. Hollywood on a German GAG rating of 96 ½, very high for a German 3yo at this time of year. It would be no great surprise to see the first four from the Munich race take to take the places again at Hamburg, especially if it rains!

It would certainly be unfeeling of this writer if this article closes without mentioning Hans-Heinrich von Loeper, who died aged 96 on Monday of this week. He was for 17 years (1974 - 1991) the secretary-general of the Directorium, the overall German racing authoritary and thus the virtual dictator of German racing. He played a leading role in the establishment of the European pattern and was thus one of the most important officials in the whole of the European racing and bloodstock industries since the end of the second world war.

David Conolly-Smith