Breeding & Racing in Germany

This is the time of year when classic trials are in the spotlight, and Germany is no exception. Last Monday we saw a good trial at Cologne for the German 1,000 Guineas (at Düsseldorf on May 26^th, the German classics all being run several weeks later than the equivalent races in the U.K.).This was won in tremendous style by Team Valor´s Axana (Soldier Hollow), trained by Andreas Wöhler, winning this race for the fourth time in six years, and the trainer seems to have a very strong hand to play this season. Axana´s performance was certainly the best by a German three-year-old so far this year; this is also the opinion of the handicapper who has bumped her up by six kilos (almost a stone) to a GAG of 94(= international 108), making her currently the top-rated filly in Germany. She is also early favourite in betting on the German 1,000 Guineas, and second favourite for the Preis der Diana (Oaks) on August 4^th, also at Düsseldorf.

So, Brexit has been postponed until October, which means up to six more months of agony, as the hopeless and hapless U.K. government under the incompetent Theresa May tries to dig itself out of the hole caused by David Cameron´s disastrous referendum. However there is one item of good news: it was confirmed this week that the E.U. has agreed that the U.K. will in any case be granted “third country status” after Brexit regarding the free movement of live animals. At the moment the tripartite agreement between the U.K. France and Ireland regulates this, and third country status basically means the status quo will be maintained. This is of great importance to the U.K. racing and bloodstock industries and also especially to the Irish, as most Irish horses travel via England when coming to the mainland. By extension it can also only be positive for Germany.

Racing in Germany moves into a higher gear with the advent of spring. Last Sunday we had an informative meeting at Düsseldorf, with three races for three-year-olds featuring some interesting prospects for this year´s classics, and this Sunday there is a good card at Cologne, 20 miles up the Rhine, with the first black type race of the year.

As expected, there was a good international entry for the Group Two Oleander-Rennen in Hoppegarten on May 12th, Germany´s top race for stayers, including several from the U.K. There were also some U.K. entries for Cologne´s Carl Jaspers-Preis (ex-Gerling) a week earlier. Obviously any possible runners from the U.K. will depend on what happens in the British parliament and if the crazy catastrophe called Brexit goes ahead, and in what form. The EU is clearly getting fed up with the unbelievable incompetence of the British government, but it is essential that we have some agreement in place by the end of this month regarding the movement of horses (and much else besides!), otherwise we could be in a situation where it would be virtually impossible for horses trained in the U.K.to run in German races. We devoutly hope that this situation will not arise and that a solution can be found.

This seems a very convenient week to look at the huge impact that German thoroughbreds, or at least those with German connections, have made on Australian racing in recent years. The anomaly of Australian racing is that the local breeders concentrate almost entirely on producing sprinters, but the country´s most valuable and iconic race is the Melbourne Cup over two miles. For a long time New Zealand breeders took advantage of this situation, and dominated the “race that stops a nation” for many decades, but since Dermot Weld stunned the locals by sending Vintage Crop (Rousillon) from Ireland to win the Melbourne Cup in 1993, and then followed up with Media Puzzle (Theatrical) in 2002, European-breds have held sway, and German owners and breeders have profited strongly from this trend.