The English page - Andreas Wöhler hits form

Gütersloh trainer Andreas Wöhler seems to have a very strong hand for the upcoming top races in Germany, and he saddled three good three-year-old winners this week. At Cologne on Sunday, he won both the races for this age group, first with Hans Wirth´s homebred filly Candy Crush (Lord of England), who scored over nine furlongs, and then with Gestüt Ittlingen´s homebred Laccario (Scalo), who was hardly out of a canter to win over eleven furlongs. Candy Crush was unplaced on her two previous starts, and Wöhler commented that she had run green, but was much better this time; she still needs more experience, but in the long run she could be a black type performer.

Laccario had also run green on his only previous start-when beaten a head over an extended mile at Düsseldorf, in a juvenile race last September which has worked out well. He only faced four opponents here, one of whom fell early on, but the runner-up  Nirvana Dschingis (Soldier Hollow) is well regarded in the powerful Klug stable and Laccario saw him off with the greatest of ease, with the others miles back. This was a seriously impressive performance, and Wöhler said afterwards: “He is a good horse and I was impressed by how professional he was today”. He runs next in Düsseldorf´s listed Derby trial and then, if all goes well, the Deutsches Derby is the obvious target, although he is by no means the only Derby candidate in the stable.

Laccario has an interesting pedigree, as he is by Scalo – also an Ittlingen homebred trained by Wöhler – who was one of the top German middle distance- performers a decade ago. Scalo, one of the best sons of Lando, himself one of the very best German racehorses and the conqueror of Monsun in a famous race for the German Derby in 1993, now stands at a fee of 2,200 euros at the Haras du Pau-Gelos in S.W. France, where he covers mainly N.H. mares but Ittlingen have continued to support him and send him  4 or 5 mares every year, and he is perfectly capable of siring top horses on the flat. Laccario Is inbred 3x3 to Lando´s dam Laurea (Sharpman), and it is obvious, not only from his pedigree but also his Cologne victory, that the Derby trip will be on problem at all.

This is not the case with Wöhler´s Revelstoke (Toronado), a very comfortable winner over seven furlongs at Mülheim on Monday. Bred by the Knipes in England, he is now owned by Australian Bloodstock and cost 145,000 guineas as a foal. He has never yet run beyond 1500 meters and it seems that the mile will be his best trip. He is currently quoted as favourite for the German 2,000 Guineas at Cologne on the Sunday of next week; but it is not at the time of writing clear what foreign horses, if any, will contest this classic; Revelstoke certainly seems the likeliest German-trained contender.

Another significant three-year-old winner at Mülheim on Monday, was Gestüt Bona´s homebred filly Skyful Sea (Sea The Stars), who scored in good style over ten and a half furlongs. She had been fifth on her debut (just behind Candy Crush!) three weeks earlier, but punters clearly knew what to expect, as she started at even money and justified this support in no uncertain style. Trained by Peter Schiergen, she is a half-sister to Salomina (Lomitas), who won the Preis der Diana in 2012, and that classic is her obvious target. It is interesting that she has been entered in the Grosser Hansa-Preis, a Group Two race over a mile and a half on the first weekend of the Hamburg Derby meeting; the timing could be right and three-year-old fillies get in the Hamburg race – the first of the year in which three-year-olds can take on older horses over this distance in Germany- with a very light weight.

The other race at Mülheim for the classic generation was won easily by Gestüt Görlsdorf´s homebred Gold (Sea The Moon), trained by Markus Klug, who also started as hot favourite and never gave her supporters any worries after taking the lead on the inside at the distance and quickly putting the race to bed. She is entered in both fillies´ classics and the trainer said afterwards: “This distance of seven furlongs is normally too short for her and she definitely stays further. The 1,000 Guineas at Düsseldorf is now clearly an option.” Klug´s possible five runners in that race at the end of this month are currently second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth favourites in early betting! However the clear favourite is Team Valor´s Axana (Soldier Hollow), trained by Andreas Wöhler, who must now be thinking about the possibility of a Guineas double.

Wöhler has saddled 13 winners so far in Germany this year at a strike rate of over 40%. The only trainer with a better percentage is Henri-Alex Pantall, who has won with three of his four German starters so far this year, i.e. a strike rate of 75%. This is even more impressive when one considers that all his runners were in black type races- of course, he would come for anything of a lower grade- the most recent being French King (French Fifteen), who shocked the locals by winning Cologne´s Group Two Carl Jaspers Preis (ex-Gerling Preis) on Sunday. Most of Germany´s top performers were in the line-up for this mile and a half event, but in the end French King, who had previously won a valuable race in Qatar, where his owner is based, but had to failed much impact at listed level in France, won fairly cosily. Jockey Olivier Peslier reported  that the four-year-old had improved a lot over the winter, and one must hope that this is indeed the case and that he can confirm this  form in a decent group race in France.

There is likely to be another foreign-trained winner this weekend, when the main feature is Hoppegarten´s Group Two Oleander-Rennen over two miles, Germany´s top staying race. The winner of this race is automatically qualified for the Irish St. Leger and for the Belmont Gold Cup and also for the Weatherby Hamilton Million Pound series for stayers. There are three Irish--trained runners coming over for this Irish Race Day, two of them owned and trained by Luke Comer, whose company also sponsors the race, and one trained by Willie Mullins – the Susannah Ricci-owned Thomas Hobson (Halling), whose main target this year is said to be the Ascot Gold Cup. He has the best form in the field and must have a great chance.

David Conolly-Smith