Breeding & Racing in Germany
In order to be of assistance to our growing number of readers from abroad, we are with immediate effect publishing in every issue of Turf Times an English page, giving in compact form all the latest racing and breeding news from Germany in English.
When we introduced “The English page” in Turf Times a few years ago, there was no question about the author. Our English readers could not be better informed about what was happening here than by David Conolly-Smith. Born in Nottingham, the Englishman, correspondent for various British and Irish specialist newspapers, German representative of the International Racing Bureau, contact point for all active people from the island, lived in Munich and horse racing was his passion. He passed away on July 9, 2023 at the age of 83. It was his wish that Shannon Patricia Spratter should continue the English-language column in his place. He was friends with her father, the Irish-born trainer John David hillis, wo is working in Munich, and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Our columnist briefly introduces herself here.
Writes the column for the English-speaking Turf Times readers: Shannon Spratter with her father, former jockey and current gallop trainer, John David Hillis. Foto: privat
My name is Shannon Patricia Spratter and I was born into racing through my father, former jockey and now trainer, John David Hillis and mother, Jeanette Spratter.
Due to the recommendation of David Conolly-Smith, I have taken over his part with great enthusiasm and now write the English edition about our German racing.
When I'm not in front of the computer writing texts or pursuing my main job, I spend my time at my father's racing stable. My favourite hobby is riding races as an amateur.
It´s a long time in racing terms between the end of March and the Deutsches Derby, to be run at Hamburg on July 10th, and the Preis der Diana (Oaks) at Düsseldorf four weeks later. It is also very unusual for serious candidates for those classics to be racing in March, but this is what happened over the long Easter weekend, when we saw promising entries for both events in action at Bremen on Good Friday, Düsseldorf on the Saturday, Hoppegarten on Sunday and Cologne on Monday. These are also the only two races in the German calendar for which there is a proper ante-post betting market, and amazingly the top three (according to some lists) in the betting for both these races were all out at the weekend.
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There are currently 52 thoroughbred stallions based in Germany approved for covering duties in 2016, including four newcomers: Amaron, Arrigo, Earl of Tinsdal, Nutan und Polish Vulcano.
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There was certainly a case of déjà vu about the results of the main races at Krefeld last Sunday, the last two group races of the German season. First, Prince Franz von Auersperg's homebred Parthenius (Soldier Hollow) won the last big juvenile event of the year, the Herzog von Ratibor-Rennen, following in the hoofprints of his own brother Pastorius, who took this race for the same connections in 2011 en route to winning the following season's Deutsches Derby and a year after that the Prix Ganay.
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Ito (Adlerflug) was a most convincing winner of last Sunday's Pastorius- Grosser Preis von Bayern, to give his owner-breeder Gestüt Schlenderhan, his trainer Jean-Pierre Carvalho and jockey Filip Minarik their second successive success in Germany's last Group One race of the year.
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Hanover was the centre of activity for German racing fans last weekend. On the Saturday there was a symposium sponsored by the Owners and Breeders Association at a local hotel, which attracted 300 guests and was by all accounts a big success. On the Saturday there was a strong card, featuring a group race and two listed races, with all events sponsored by leading studs.
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What a season this has been for Ravensberg trainer Andreas Wöhler! Not only he is quite likely to be leading trainer in Germany for the third time – not only by number of winners, as is the custom here, but probably also in terms of prize-money – with a strike rate of over 32%, but he has also had considerable success as a breeder, despite the fact that Rennstall Wöhler (a partnership between him and his wife Susanne) currently only have two mares. One of them however is Independent Miss (Polar Falcon), who has just brought off the considerable feat of having two group race winners in the space of a week.
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Ravensberg trainer Andreas Wöhler has such an outstanding record in Germany's top races that it comes as quite a surprise to realise that until last Sunday he had never won the prestigious Preis des Winterfavoriten at Cologne, the local equivalent of the Racing Post Trophy, and a race which, as the name suggests, is intended to supply the early favourite for next season's Deutsches Derby. This does not of course always work out, and in fact Lavirco (Königsstuhl) in 1995 was the last horse to win both races.
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Cologne's Group One Preis von Europa, run last Sunday, used to be one of the most valuable races in Europe; this is no longer the case, but we saw a good race with a very deserving winner: Stall Nizza's Nightflower (Dylan Thomas), who on her previous two starts had been runner-up in the Preis der Diana and Grosser Preis von Baden.
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Last Sunday's Deutsches St. Leger at Dortmund ended with two four-year-old fillies taking the first two places, hardly a compliment to the current classic crop in Germany, which has been further weakened by the late news that Derby winner Nutan (Duke of Marmalade) is injured and has been retired.
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This is a relatively quiet period for German racing, between the end of the Grosse Woche at Baden-Baden twelve days ago and the Europa-Meeting at Cologne at the end of next week. The only group race last weekend was the Grosse Europa Meile at Munich, and this weekend it will be the German St. Leger atDortmund, both Group Three races.
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The group races at Baden-Baden last week had, to be honest, little strength in depth, and the late withdrawal of the likely favourite Ito (Adlerflug) from Sunday´s Grosser Preis was a bitter blow, not only to owner/ breeder Gestüt Schlenderhan and trainer Jean-Pierre Carvalho (who had taken the same race the previous year with Ivanhowe), but also to the racecourse, who lost one of its main attractions and had in addition to pay back thousands of euros in bets on the non-runner. Ito was originally pencilled in for the Prix de l´Arc de Triomphe, but that now looks highly unlikely, as he is to miss this Sunday´s Prix Foy as well (that was Plan B) and the Preis von Europa at Cologne in a fortnight´s time now looks the probable target.
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