The English page - Derby form boosted by Windstoß

The form of this year´s Group One IDEE 148^th Deutsches Derby, which until now had looked pretty shaky, was given a big boost at Cologne last Sunday when Derby winner Windstoß (Shirocco) ran out a very easy winner of the Group One Preis von Europa, and became the first three-year-old this century to bring off this particular double. To be sure, this was not the strongest Group One field ever assembled, but Windstoss, a Gestüt Röttgen homebred, could do no more than win with a great deal in hand.

Held up in last place by Adrie de Vries, Windstoß made rapid progress on the turn into the straight and hit the front two furlongs out; while the situation behind him was very confused, he quickly strode clear to score convincingly by four lengths. Son Macia (Soldier Hollow), who had been prominent throughout, kept on well for second, just in front of the fast-finishing Colomano (Cacique). The latter was the unlucky horse of the race and would almost certainly have finished a clear second with a better run.

Markus Klug, trainer of both Windstoß and Colomano, declared afterwards that they are both to stay in training and that they are probably finished for this season. Windstoß in particular looks an excellent prospect, as he is the type that could still improve a lot. It is strange to think that his sire Shirocco, who himself won the German Derby in 2004, is now covering National Hunt mares in Ireland; and just as strange that Windstoß himself was sent to the BBAG Yearling Sale in 2015, only to be bought back for 16,000 euros. Röttgen boss Dr. Gunter Paul later stated that they would have sold him for 25,000 euros; he has now won more than twenty times that amount in prize money and there is probably more to come.

It was an excellent meeting for Klug and his stable jockey de Vries. They won four races over the two days, and the two juvenile winners were especially impressive.  Rock My Love, a Holy Roman Emperor filly, took the listed Winterkönigin-Trial with the greatest of ease and now goes for the Preis der Winterkönigin itself, at Baden-Baden´s October meeting. The Reliable Man colt Erasmus was an equally easy winner of what appeared to be a well-contested maiden. Also a Röttgen homebred, he now goes for the Preis des Winterfavoriten over this course and distance in a fortnight´s time.

The other big race of the Cologne meeting was a listed race for fillies and mares which was won by Prima Violetta (Areion) for trainer Andreas Wöhler and jockey Eduardo Pedroza. She appeared late on the scene but ran on strongly to lead inside the final furlong and score by two and a half lengths. She was certainly not winning out of turn as she had been unlucky on her two previous starts, in the German Oaks and a listed fillies event at Baden-Baden and was down in grade here.

This coming weekend we have a Group Three over the extended mile at Düsseldorf and a listed race for fillies and mares at Hanover. French raider Silver Meadow (Teofilo) goes for the former event; trained by Francis Graffard, he is dangerous but strictly on ratings should not defeat the two Markus Klug runners Millowitsch (Sehrezad) – although this distance seems his absolute limit – and Röttgen´s Attica (Tai Chi), with another three-year-old Arazza (Areion) another threat. There is predictably a much larger field at Hanover, where ten German-trained fillies face two challengers each from the U.K. and France.  Titi Mafki (Makfi) and White Rosa (Galileo) are the British hopes. They are trained by Mark Johnston and Hugo Palmer respectively, two trainers that have enjoyed plenty of success in Germany. Glade (Bertolini) and Godolphin´s Agathonia (Street Cry) represent France, and the latter in particular must be respected in view of trainer Henri-Alex Pantall´s excellent record in such events Best of the locals should be Diana Storm (Soldier Hollow), an own sister to Dschinghis Secret and runner-up in a Baden-Baden Group Two last time.

These races of course pale into insignificance when compared to the action at Chantilly this weekend. German-trained runners have a good record at the Arc meeting, and punters will be cheering on Dschingis Secret (Soldier Hollow) and Iquitos (Adlerflug) in the Arc itself, while we also hope that Peter Schiergen´s two runners in the Prix de l´Opera, Lacazar (Adlerflug) and Ashiana (Mastercraftsman), also do well. Narella (Reliable Man), recently sold to Teruya Yoshida, runs her last race for Markus Klug in the Prix Marcel Boussac, while on Saturday Wonnemond (Areion) and Noor Al Hawa (Makfi) in the Prix Wildenstein, Monreal (Peintre Celebre) in the Prix Chaudenay  and Wild Chief (Doyen) in the Prix Dollar are flying the flag for Germany. Potemkin (New Approach) won the Dollar last year, but this time has been switched to Tuesday´s Preis der Deutschen Einheit at Hoppegarten, which looks much easier.

David Conolly-Smith