Breeding & Racing in Germany

Last week we looked at the influence of German bloodstock in the French N.H. scene, which continues to be quite significant. In the list of French N.H. sires published regularly by the Thoroughbred Stallion Guide we find that five sons of Monsun figure in the top 50 (by number of winners): Network, Bathyron, Masterstroke, Manduro and Noroit; in addition Masked Marvel (Montjeu) is in 14^th place, and Nicaron (Acatenango) and Anzillero (Law Society) also figure, all with strong German elements in their pedigrees. If we look at the figures for the U.K. and Ireland, then the picture is even more striking. That list (by number of winners) is headed by Fame and Glory (Montjeu) and Getaway and Shirocco, both sons of Monsun, in third and fourth place.

This is the last English page for 2021, so it seems an opportune time to look back at the events of the 2021 season in Germany, the second year of the covid-19 pandemic, which currently remains as potent as ever and shows no sign of abating in the near future. Obviously this was the overriding feature of the year, and its effect on horse racing (and most other sports as well) was extremely negative. There was a period in the summer when things appeared to be getting back to normal, but the “fourth wave” in the autumn soon put an end to optimism. Crowds were limited throughout the year, and clearly this was a major problem for racecourses, whose income from racegoers, betting, catering and other sources suffered heavily.

With only a few races to come in 2021, the season´s statistics are already more or less set in stone, and it is clear that Adlerflug (In The Wings) will be champion sire for the second successive year. These statistics refer only to domestic results, and if foreign races were included Adlerflug´s dominant position would be much clearer following the victory of his son Torquator Tasso in Europe´s richest race, the Prix de l´Arc de Triomphe, worth over 2.8 million euros to the winner. That sum is almost four times as much as Adlerflug´s winnings in Germany from 37 races won - in fact it is worth more than the combined winnings of the top six stallions in the German list, a sad reflection on the current poor level of prize-money in Germany.

Maximilian (2016), W., v. Adlerflug – Maxima, Zü.: Gestüt Harzburg

Sieger am 31. Oktober in Rathcannon/Irland, Point-to-Point-Rennen, 4800m

BBAG-Herbstauktion 2017, €12.000 an Richard Venn BS

Nicklaus (2015), W., v. Exceed and Excel – Nianga, Zü.: Stiftung Gestüt Fährhof

Sieger am 10. November in Al Janadriah/Saudi-Arabien, 1400m, ca. €3.200

BBAG-Jährlingsauktion 2016, €180.000 an Peter & Ross Doyle BS/Mayfair Speculators

Last Sunday´s Allianz- Grosser Preis von Bayern in Munich was the final Group One race of the European season and ended with the expected victory of Kirsten Rausing´s homebred Alpinista (Frankel) who thus completed the same German Group One hat trick as her grandam Albanova in 2004, following the Grosser Preis von Berlin in August and the Preis von Europa in September. The Grosser Preis von Berlin, now back at its historic home in Hoppegarten, was in Albanova´s day run as the Deutschland-Preis in Düsseldorf, while the Munich race, which goes back after several changes in name, to the old Aral-Pokal, was in 2004 run as the Rheinland-Pokal in Cologne, but the character of all three races has remained the same, as well as the distance of 2400 metres.