The English page - Hectic weekend with German Derby as headliner

We have just had a very hectic weekend, starring the Eclipse Stakes in Sandown, the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in Paris and the German Derby at Hamburg, top Group One races in three different countries and of course the IDEE 153^rd Deutsches Derby (to give its official title) was the main event in German eyes. It was a dramatic race which began with a huge embarrassment: the race was off half an hour late after the rails has to be adjusted at the start, where it seemed that that part of the course was too narrow to accommodate 20 runners. It had been known for weeks that a maximum field could be expected to take part. Anyone who has lived in Germany for years, as this writer has, knows of course that “German efficiency” is a myth, but even so, this was, to put it mildly, highly embarrassing. The runners circled at the start for about 25 minutes in the afternoon heat, while the adjustments were made, with the chief steward himself lending a hand, but fortunately there were no ill effects, except possibly to the nerves of racegoers and TV spectators, and the race itself was fairly run and ended with a result that more or less exactly confirmed the form of the major trials, and in particular the result of Cologne´s Group Two Union-Rennen four weeks ago.

On that occasion Gestüt Park Wiedingen´s homebred Sammarco (Camelot) and Gestüt Schlenderhan´s So Moonstruck (Sea The Moon) had fought out a tremendous battle, with the former just winning by a head, with the staying-on Alessio (Teofilo), another homebred, six lengths back in third, followed by Maraseem, Schwarzer Peter and Angelino in that order. This time it was Angelino and Maraseem who made the running at a steady pace, with Sammarco and So Moonstruck always prominent, but the whole field was closely bunched as they swung into the straight, where the two front-runners quickly dropped back.

Sammarco and So Moonstruck remained in contention all the way down the straight, where a new danger suddenly appeared on the wide outside, with Schwarzer Peter (Neatico) making a late charge and for a moment he appeared to have the race won, but the other pair fought back gamely, and at the line it was impossible to split them with the naked eye. The photograph showed that Sammarco, on the inside rail, had prevailed by a short head from Schwarzer Peter, giving trainer Peter Schiergen is sixth Derby winner; another short head back was So Moonstruck; Assistent (Sea The Moon), who had won the Hanover trial a fortnight ago, finished well for fourth place, beaten 1 ¼ lengths, then another short head to Peter Schiergen's second runner Nerik (Ruler of the World), with Alessio, Lavello (Zarak), winner of the Bavarian Classic in early May with Sammarco in second, Italian Derby winner Ardakan (Reliable Man) and Queroyal (Churchill) all close up, followed by the two fillies in the field, Mylady (The Grey Gatsby) and Wagnis (Adlerflug), who had a “horrible run” from her outside draw, according to jockey Hollie Doyle. Rather surprisingly Wagnis started second favourite, probably a result of the Hollie factor, as she had already thrilled the 12,500 strong crowd with her earlier win (more of that later).

On the whole there were few hard luck stories, but obviously with such a large field there were bound to be runners who did not get much of a run, as well as several who clearly failed to stay, mostly those that could have been predicted beforehand.. The stewards had a long look and dished out suspensions to the jockeys of the first two, Murzabayev on the winner got 17 days and Helfenbein on Schwarzer Peter 14 for overuse of the whip, and also were fined 50% of their percentages. It was surprisingly the first Group One success for Murzabayev; born in Kazakhstan, he has been based in Germany the last four years, and has been champion jockey the last three.

There were only about three lengths between the first ten to cross the line, and clearly several of the main protagonists will meet again before the year, is out, so it will be no huge surprise if the pecking order of the top German 3yo´s should be changed. However for the time being, Sammarco is top of the heap and as he has only ever run four times he is certainly capable of further improvement. His official rating has been put up one pound from the Union-Rennen to German GAG 96 ½ (= international 113), the same as the last two winners of the race In Swoop in 2020 and Sisfahan in 2021. In Swoop later ran second in the Arc, and his runner-up at Hamburg Torquator Tasso of course won it last year.

Sammarco is a homebred of Gestüt Park Wiedingen (Helmut von Finck) and was actually foaled in Ireland. He is the tenth Group One winner by Coolmore sire Camelot and is out of a listed-placed mare by Germany´s leading sire Soldier Hollow (also owned by von Finck). He is from a family that has done well for several German breeders, notably in recent years Wittekindshof, and traces back to the great Schlenderhan champion Schwarzgold.

Torquator Tasso also ran at Hamburg, winning the Group Two Grosser Hansa-Preis with the greatest of ease for the second time. This was quite a relief for connections after his feeble display at Baden-Baden; this time it was his Baden-Baden conqueror Alter Adler, like him a son a Adlerflug, who ran feebly, finishing fifth of six, with only the no-hoper behind him. Torquator Tasso will now un in the King George in a fortnight´s time, followed by the Grosser Preis von Baden again, and then, all being well, the Arc. His performance here was rated at GAG 99 (= 118), seven pounds below his Arc rating, but he won with a great deal in hand. It was also interesting to note that Kirsten Rausing´ s Alpinista (Frankel) won the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud on Sunday as her mare won three Group Ones in Germany last year, and she defeated Torquator Tasso in the Grosser Preis von Berlin. The form of those races last year is working out well and it will be highly interesting to see how this year´s German Derby result looks in a year´s time.

There were three other group races run at the meeting, a Group Three sprint on Friday, won by the Andreas Wöhler-trained Danelo (Exceed and Excel), continuing Gestüt Ittlingen´s excellent 2022 run, and then two Group Threes for fillies on Sunday, one over a mile won by Arina (Soldier Hollow), in the Torquator Tasso colours, and one over 2200 metres, won by Röttgen´s homebred Well Disposed (Dubawi) from the hot favourite Mounthaha (Guiliani), ridden by Frankie Dettori; but Hollie Doyle on the winner got first run and rode a brilliant race. Well Disposed has claims to be the best bred horse running in Germany, as the Dubawi filly is a half-sister to two winners of the German Derby. Well Disposed was for a long time regarded as a possible Derby runner, but Röttgen finally preferred Wagnis for that. The two are now quoted as joint favourites for the Group One Preis der Diana (Oaks) in four weeks time.

Obviously German racing for the next fortnight will be mainly at a lower level, but we have a listed race over a mile on Friday (tomorrow) at Hanover, including a runner trained in Newmarket, as well as a group race on Saturday over 2050 metres at Magdeburg which will be the first group race ever run at the Herrenkrug racecourse. Schiergen and Murzabayev can continue their hot spell here with Lord Charming (Charm Spirit), fourth in last year´s Derby and arguably now running over a more suitable distance. Swedish raider Moomba (Australia) could be the danger. There is racing at Cologne on Sunday, but- unusually- no black type events.

David Conolly-Smith