The English page: First trials for the classics

Despite the return of wintry weather, there was some very interesting racing over the Easter weekend, with some clear pointers tot he upcoming classics. Bremen started the roll rolling with its traditional Good Friday meeting, featuring the Acatenango Derby Trial, which is actually a race for maidens, but has produced two winners of the German Derby in the past decade. Ironically the race was won by a colt who has not been entered in the classic, Stall Lucky Owner´s Walsingham (Campanologist), a 12,000 euros BBAG purchase. Walsingham clearly stays well and is probably quite useful, but he certainly got the run of the race here, with most of the candidates very green and running all over the place. It would be no surprise to see the placed horses, Qatar Racing´s Japanese-bred Promise of Peace (King Kamehameha) and Stall Adlerhorst´s Adler (Adlerflug) step up considerably on this form next time out.

On Easter Sunday the action moved to Hoppegarten, which stages two well-contested listed races for older horses. Unfortunately the ground was very soft and not ideal for several of the fancied horses, for example the Polish-trained clear favourite Va Bank (Archipenko), who could only finish  fourth over ten furlongs. This should not however detract from the winner, Stall Fürstenhof´s Wild Chief (Doyen), who scored by two long-looking lengths. Wild Chief is certainly smart enough on his day (he has twice finished fourth in French Group One events), but conditions were in his favour here and it should be remembered that he shows his best from in the spring and tends to go off the bolt in the summer.

The other listed race, over a mile and three-quarters, also had a Polish favourite, their last year´s Derby winner Caccini (American Post), but he took the lead early in the straight, too early possibly, and was run out of it in the final stages by the outsider Darius Racing´s Kashmar (Samum). Kashmar has a nice pedigree – she is an own-sister to German Derby winner Kamsin – but was the lowest-rated runner here. The handicapper has now raised her no less than 53 pounds for this success!  The Hoppegarten fixture also had two races for three-year-olds on the card, which were both won by fillies trained locally by Roland Dzubasz and ridden by Kazakhstan-born jockey Bauyrzhan Murzabayev. Molly Moon (Campanologist), a 15,000 euros BBAG yearling, and Gondora (Soldier Hollow) both won in good style and look capable of holding their own in better company.

On Easter Monday there were good cards at both Cologne and Hanover. At the latter track, the listed race for fillies over ten furlongs was won by the improved Salve Venezia (Areion), who completed an across-the-card  treble for trainer Jean-Pierre Carvalho. The high point of the day was however the ceremony honouring local hero Iquitos (Adlerflug) as German Horse of the Year for 2016. Iquitos won last year´s Grosser Preis von Baden; he remains in training at the age of five and connections are planning to target the Prix de l´Arc de Triomphe.  Carvalho had eaelier won the eleven furlongs race for three-year-old fillies with the Ullmann homebred Gaea (Holy Roman Emperor); she is from a top family and should be followed. The other three-year-old races were both won by fillies trained locally by Dominik Moser for Gestüt Brümmerhof:  homebred Artistica (Areion) over six furlongs – which looks likely to be her best distance- and Anna Magnolia (Makfi), a 42,000 euros Arqana yearling, over a mile. Both won easily enough and should also be followed.

But the big race of the weekend was at Cologne – the Schwarzgold-Rennen, the best early season trial for the German 1,000 Guineas, and it produced what will probably turn out to be the best winner of the weekend in Australian Bloodstock´s Delectation (Delegator). Trained in England last year by Bryan Smart she won both her starts, including a Group Three at Ayr, and was then transferred to Andreas Wöhler, who has done so well for these owners. She won here in really good style, quickening nicely through a gap at the furlong market to win by two lengths – but she was undoubtedly value for more. German bookmakers immediately made her favourite for the 1,000 Guineas at Düsseldorf on June 18^th, but the trainer has other plans for her – the French 1,000 Guineas at Deauville and then possibly Royal Ascot. This was a good race and two others to be taken from it are runner-up Alicante (Lando), who finished strongly from the rear and clearly needs further, and Peace in Motion (Hat Trick), who dead-heated for third place after not getting much of a run. The other noteworthy winner at Cologne was the Ullmann homebred Monreal (Peintre Celebre) who won the three-year-old maiden in promising style. Runner-up here was Rosenpurpur (Pour Moi), whose dam won the German Oaks; he finished very strongly and should also be followed.

Main feature this weekend is the Dr. Busch-Memorial over the extended mile at Krefeld, the best trial for the German 2,000 Guineas (Mehl-Mülhens-Rennen), to be run at Cologne on May 21^st. Two of the last three winners of this race have gone on to score at Cologne, and several of the likeliest candidates line up here, notably Andreas Wöhler´s Langtang (Campanologist) and Markus Klug´s Colomano (Cacique), Germany´s two highest-rated juveniles last year. They will probably be the two favourites, but both trainers have other irons in the fire and we are especially interested in Klug´s Dia Del Sol (Soldier Hollow), who looked very promising when winning the big sales race at last October´s Baden-Baden meeting.

David Conolly-Smith