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.
Big race in Germany last weekend was the Group Three Silbernes Pferd (“silver horse”) over 3000 metres at Hoppegarten. This is not only one of Germany´s best staying races, but ois also the oldest race in the German calendar, dating back to 1832. It looked quite an open affair with 9 runners, only one of them a 3yo, the filly Pretty Girl (Sea The Stars), but she dropped out disappointingly sfter making the early running. Stall Nizza´s homebred Nerium (Camelot) started favoiurite, and he went on at halfway. He had a clear lead in the straight and looked the likely winner two out when he stilled by five langths. But then the 5yo mare Silence Please (Gleneagles), who had been held up in last place for the first mile, came out of the pack and went in pursuit.
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Last weekend we had a modest meeting at Dresden on Saturday, followed by a much stronger card on Sunday at Hanover, where the 11 races included four black type events. This was preceded by a day-long conference, the so-called “thoroughbred experts´ day”. Many of the leading personalities in German racing were present, and many issues were freely and openly discussed. Among them was the use ,or rather misuse, of the whip, and it seems quite likely that Germany´s strict laws in this regard will be further tightened.
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As expected, the 2yo races were the most interesting events at Baden-Baden´s Sales & Racing Festival last week. The meeting itself must be regarded as a major success, and they were lucky with the weather, which although miserable on Friday (the first day) was excellent on the Sunday, resulting in a good crowd and strong betting turnover. The new management team of Peter Gaul and Stephan Buchner must be congratulated on a great job. There is one more day´s racing to come at the Iffezheim track, on Saturday December 3rd, which will be combined with a Christmas market; this is a complete innovation and it must be hoped that it is also a success, although much obviously will depend on the weather.
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This is the time of year when the main interest in the racing world switches to the 2yo´s and, it is hoped, classic prospects for next year. The German calendar is always about a month behind other leading European nations and this applies even more to the juveniles than to the older horses. In France we have races for 2yo´s in the early spring, in England the Brocklesby Stakes at the Doncaster meeting in late March is the traditional start of the flat season in the U.K. The race has been run in its present form since 1875 (originally at Lincoln) and It has often been won by performers who went on to prove themselves among the best of their crop. This season the winner Persian Force (Mehmas) went on to be placed in top races at Royal Ascot, Newmarket and Deauville. We remember Hearts of Fire (Firebreak), the 2009 winner, who finished the season by winning the Group One (then) Gran Criterium at Milan, taking in Baden-Baden´s Zukunfts-Rennen on the way.
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What a weekend! From Last Friday to Monday there were group races n Saint-Cloud and Longchamp in France, in Ascot and Newmarket in England, in Tipperary in Ireland, and in Düsseldorf and Hoppegarten in Germany; in addition there were listed races in Dundalk (Ireland), Redcar , Toulouse, Milan, and Hanover and Mülheim and Övreroll in Norway,as well as on the undercard most of the group race meetings. There were also Group One races in Japan, the USA and Chile. It is clearly one of the busiest weekends of the year internationally, but equally clearly the number one place goes to the Arc weekend at ParisLongchamp, with three Group Two and no fewer than eight Group One races. It is interesting to note that six of these events went to the U.K., four winners were trained in France and one in Ireland.
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Thoroughbred Racing Commentary publishes every week its TRC Global Rankings, in which the leading human and equine performers worldwide are ranked according to a complicated points system based on results of the top races, mainly Group Ones, from all over the world. The aim is to establish a pecking order of the world´s most successful owners, trainers and jockeys similar to the rankings published for tennis players and golfers. It could be argues that the international classifications, based on handicap ratings, are more authoratiive, but the TRC rankings are also of great interest and certainly relevant to German racing.
It rained all day last Sunday at Dortmund. That is possibly good news for some following the long hot and dry spell we have endured for most of 2022, but it was certainly bad luck for the racecourse at Dortmund which was staging its best card of the year. The going was soft at the start of racing, but turned progressively heavier throughout the day. The track clearly favoured soft and heavy ground performers, and many of the runners were facing such condition for the first time. The result was that many races saw some very easy winners scoring by long distances.
After the excitements of the Grosse Woche at Baden-Baden the previous week, it was clear that racing in Germany last weekend would be at a much lower level. And so it proved; there was racing at five tracks, but Düsseldorf on Sunday had easily the best card and also the only black type event.
Düsseldorf had three races for 2yo´s, unusual for Germany, a maiden race, a BBAG sales race and the listed Junioren-Preis over a mile a race with a distinguished history which has been won in the past by many stars of German racing, Lando and Lomitas, to name just two. The BBAG sales race had easily the best prize-money and was won by Postman (Soldier Hollow), bred by the Matusche family and a 28,000 euros yearling. He is trained by Markus Klug, also the trainer of the maiden winner, Gestüt Röttgen´s homebred Aspirant (Protectionist).
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The Grosse Woche at Baden-Baden is now history and it must be said that on the whole the meeting must be rated a huge success. A new management team, Baden Galopp, took over last year; this was their biggest test and they came through with flying colours. Crowds were good, about 16,000 on the final day, the weather (mostly) fine and betting turnover also good enough, although slightly below expectations as a result of the small fields in some of the top races. We saw lots of classy racing and some thrilling finishes. There was also plenty of work for the stewards, and several jockeys received suspensions, including one very prominent name (see more below)
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We are now halfway through Baden-Baden´s Grosse Woche and have already seen some impressive performances and many races of great interest. As expected there was a foreign winner of the Goldene Peitsche last Sunday, the 17th this century so far, and it does seem that German-breds are not at their best over 1200 metres, a specialist distance over which runners from the U.K., France and Sweden are more likely to shine. The winner this time was Dr. Ali Ridha´s homebred Dubawi Legend (Dubawi), a 3yo trained by Hugo Palmer from his new stables owned by Michael Owen, who jumped well, led by three lengths after a furlong and made the rest of the running by the stands side rail to score by a length in a very fast time.
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After three successive Sundays with Group One races, last weekend´ s racing in Germany was a much lower level. The main events were two listed races for fillies, one at Düsseldorf over 1400 metres and one at Hanover over 2400 metres. These listed races, especially when restricted to fillies, can usually rely on strong fields with international challengers hoping for some black type, and in fact five of the eight runners in Düsseldorf were trained abroad, three in France, and one each in Sweden and Hungary.
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These lines are written before Alpinista (Frankel) runs in the Group One Yorkshire Oaks; but Ms Rausing´s great mare, unbeaten for the past two years, won again and gave another boost to German form. Alpinista won three Group One races in Germany last year, the best of which was the Grosser Preis von Berlin, in which she defeated subsequent Arc winner Torquator Tasso and subsequent Canadian Group One winner Walton Street. As a result the race was officially rated the 31st best race in the world in 2021, and easily the best race run in Germany. This is unlikely to be the case with the latest renewal, run last Sunday at Hoppegarten, and won by Godolphin´s supplemented 4yo gelding Rebel´ s Romance (Dubawi).
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