The English page - Long distance winners

Some recent results from racecourses all over the world have a bearing on the German bloodstock scene. Last week´ s New Zealand Oaks in Trentham went to Sentimental Miss, to give her sire Reliable Man his first Group One winner. The grey son of Arc winner Dalakhani out of a daughter of the triple Oaks winner Fair Salinia is one of the very few European-bred horses to have won a top Group One race both in Europe (Prix du Jockey Club) and Australia (Queen Elizabeth II Stakes); another one of course is the Schlenderhan-bred (Our ) Ivanhowe  (Soldier Hollow), winner of the Grosser Preis von Baden and Caulfield Cup among others. They both now stand at Niccolo Riva´s Haras d´Annebault in Normandy, for a fee of 9,000 euros and 4,500 respectively,

However Reliable Man´s European stud career began at Gestüt Röttgen where he stood from 2014 to 2017. His southern hemisphere base remains the Westbury Stud in New Zealand. His first German crop, the 2yo´s of 2017, were very successful, and included Erasmus, the top-rated German juvenile that year and winner of the Preis des Winterfavoriten, and the filly Narella, who won the Zukunftsrennen at Baden-Baden, both of them bred by Röttgen. Unfortunately we have not seen much of them since; Erasmus missed the whole of 2018 through injury, but is reported to be back in full training now, while Narella was sold to Teruya Yoshida and sent to England, where she was well beaten on all four starts in 2018. However it is clear that Reliable Man is a stallion to be taken very seriously and he had more good winners – in both continents - last year. It was a great shame, and a great loss to German breeding, when the international syndicate that owns him took him away from Röttgen and sent him to France, on the grounds that he was not getting enough support here.

A stallion going in the other direction is Helmet (Exceed and Excel), who after three years at Dalham Hall Stud has moved this year to Gestüt Fährhof, where he stands for 9,000 euros, rather less than his fee had been in Newmarket. There were fears that Helmet might be a one trick pony, that one being the top class Thunder Snow, winner of three Group Ones including the Dubai World Cup and third in the Breeders´ Cup Classic last year. However the good news for Fährhof is that Helmet, also a shuttler to and from Down Under, is having an excellent season  in Australia with two of this year´s top young horses to represent him, 3yo Tin Hat and 2yo La Tene, both recent group winners, while Thunder Snow himself made an excellent seasonal debut at Meydan and is on course for another challenge for the Dubai World Cup. Helmet is also a great-grandson of Röttgen´s champion racehorse and blue hen broodmare Anna Paola, an added attraction.

One of the leading Japanese classic prospects this year is the filly Velox (Just A Way), recent winner of the listed Wakaba Stakes, a major classic trial. She is a daughter of the Schlenderhan-bred Selkis (Monsun), winner of Hoppegarten´s Diana-Trial in 2011, and a direct descendant of the  celebrated Schwarzgold. We are reminded here of Soul Stirring (Frankel), who won the Japanese Oaks in 2017; her dam, the multiple Group One winner Stacelita, was also a daughter of Monsun from the Schwarzgold family. Numerous fillies from top German families have been sold to Japan in recent years -see also Narella above.

Back home, the turf season started last Sunday at Krefeld, and the two three-year-old races on the card ended with very easy victories for Röttgen´s homebred filly Sharoka (Rock of Gibraltar) over seven furlongs and the Dutch-trained but Etzean-bred King-(Lord of England) over an extended mile. King, a bargain BBAG buy at 7,000 euros, was the easier winner, turning his race into a procession and scoring by eleven lengths; he is an own brother to Kronprinz, last year´s Dr. Busch-Memorial winner and last week fourth in the Abu Dhabi Championship. However Sharoka looks the better prospect and is regarded in the powerful Markus Klug stable as one of their classic hopes for this year. She runs next in the Karin Baronin von Ullmann –Schwarzgold-Rennen in Cologne, a major trial for the German 1,000 Guineas at Düsseldorf on May 26^th.

This Sunday we have racing from Düsseldorf, with three more races for three-year-olds, one over an extended mile, one over 2100 metres and one for fillies over seven furlongs. There are entries from almost all the leading stables and it is highly likely that more classic prospects will be on view.

David Conolly-Smith