The English page - Second Group One success for Godolphin

Godolphin choose their targets well and Best Solution (Kodiac) provided the Sheikh Mohammed-owned stable with their second German Group One victory in Germany in the space of a fortnight when winning a dramatic Grosser Preis von Berlin at Hoppegarten last Sunday. Two weeks ago Benbatl (Dubawi), also trained by Saeed bin Suroor, had taken the Grosser Dallmayr-Preis at Munich, Germany´s top ten furlongs event. Both these winners could be on a plane to Australia before long, as the Melbourne Cup and the Cox Plate respectively have been mentioned as their main autumn targets.

The interesting feature of Best Solution´s pedigree is that he is the second Group One winner by the highly successful Kodiac, whose first was that very speedy juvenile Tiggy Wiggy. Indeed Kodiac is known as a sire of precocious two-year-olds and is in fact leading European sire in that category again this season. To find a son of his who is not only improving with age but also winning over a mile and a half and now being aimed at a race over two miles is very unusual. However there is plenty of stamina in the bottom line – he is closely related to St. Leger winner Brian Boru and Arc winner Workforce - and the way he finished off at Hoppegarten suggests that the Melbourne Cup is in fact quite feasible.

Best Solution started slowly and was one of the back markers for the first ten furlongs. The pace was slow at first, with nobody wanting to make the running, and in the end it was the sole three-year-old in the field Royal Youmzain (Youmzain) who took it up, and he led from Dschingis Secret (Soldier Hollow) into the straight. Royal Youmzain tried to go for home, but could not really shake off Dschingis Secret, while Sound Check (Lando), on the outside and Best Solution on his inside where making up ground rapidly. Royal Youmzain still had the lead inside the final furlong, where Dschingis Secret was the meat in the sandwich between Sound Check and Best Solution, but the last-named found the best turn of foot to lead fifty yards out and score by a neck from Sound Check, who stayed on really well, with half a length back to Royal Youmzain, who ran an excellent race in third and was almost certainly not suited by having to make the running.

Dschingis Secret was two lengths further back and the stewards had a look at the interference he suffered, but left the result unchanged although Pat Cosgrave, the winning jockey, was fined 300 euros for careless riding. Adrie de Vries, the jockey aboard Dschingis Secret, admitted that his horse was going nowhere at the time; the 2017 winner of this race was slightly below form and possibly found the going too fast, as did his stable companion Windstoss (Shirocco), last year´s German Derby winner but here a disappointing sixth of the seven starters. However, despite the messy final furlong, it was clear that Best Solution was the best horse on the day and his finishing speed was impressive. The handicapper has left his rating on 116 (German GAG 98), which seems a good basis for his prospects in the “race that stops a nation.” Sound Check has been put up to 115; this trip was certainly on the short side for him, he had won here in the spring over two miles, and he could go next for the Irish St. Leger, over a more suitable distance. He is also entered in the German St. Leger, run the same day, but the far more valuable Irish equivalent would be much more interesting. Royal Youmzain´s rating has also been raised to 114. He was a slightly unlucky third in the German Derby and is clearly capable of winning a top race when things fall right. He has an entry in the Grosser Preis von Baden, in which he would again meet the two horses that finished just in front of him at Hamburg.

We also saw three listed races at Hoppegarten. On Saturday Godolphin´s Agathonia (Street Cry) kicked off a good weekend for the stable when running out an easy winner over fourteen furlongs; she is now trained in France by Henri-Alex Pantall, who has made a habit of winning German black type races. On Sunday we had a nice double for Gestüt Brümmerhof, whose well-bred Celebrity (Shamardal) won over six furlongs, while an hour later their two homebreds Angelita (Areion) and Akua´rella (Shamardal) took the first two places in the fillies´ and mares´ race over nine furlongs.

This weekend, hardly surprising after the big meetings of the last three weeks and with the “Grosse Woche” starting next week at Baden-Baden, we have only two relatively modest listed races on the programme. At Hanover, only five runners go for the mile and a half race, which looks a straight match between the top weight Walsingham (Campanologist) and the bottom weight Amaranthe (Mastercraftsman), another Pantall-trained filly; while at Düsseldorf there is a bigger field for the fillies´ and mares´ race over seven furlongs, where Scapina (Tai Chi) is top-rated. However both these races are, with all due respect, relatively weak affairs compared to those we hope to see in a few days´ time at Baden-Baden.

David Conolly-Smith