The English page - More classic confusion

Last Sunday´s Prix du Jockey Club in Chantilly was a good result for German breeding, as the two colts who fought out the finish, Brametot (Rajsaman) and Waldgeist (Galileo), both have strong German elements close up in their pedigrees. Brametot is out of Morning Light (Law Society), bred by Gestüt Isarland, a stud which now alas no longer exists, and she is a half-sister to German champion racehorse and sire Monsun (Königsstuhl). Monsun is also the broodmare sire of Waldgeist, whose name certainly betrays his German origins; he is a member of the famous “W” family of Gestüt Ravensberg, tracing back to Waldrun (Alchimist), one of the most successful German broodmares of all time. This is a family that has produced top class performers every year, and Waldgeist´s close relation Waldpfad (Shamardal)is one of this season´s better three-year-olds and an easy winner at Dortmund only last week.

At home, classic trials were the dominant feature of the long Whit weekend. The most important was the Group Two Soldier Hollow-Diana-Trial over ten furlongs for fillies at Hoppegarten. The race, sponsored by the owner of German champion sire Soldier Hollow, featured no fewer than four of his daughters, and for a long time it seemed that one of them would win – Gestüt Röttgen´s homebred Well Spoken, who was making her seasonal debut but had ended 2016 with victory in the Preis der Winterkönigin at Baden-Baden, usually the top race here for two-year-old fillies. Well Spoken went straight into the lead and she was still in command at the distance, but possibly the lack of a recent race told, and she was run out of it in the final strides by Stall Ullmann´s Tusked Wings (Adlerflug), who got up close home to win by a short head. This is a bit ironic, as Adlerflug, who like Soldier Hollow is a son of In The Wings, could be that stallion´s main rival in the statistics this year.

Tusked Wings has an interesting pedigree, as her third dam is the famed Schlenderhan-bred mare Allegretta (Lombard), also dam of Arc winner Urban Sea (Miswaki) and thus the second dam of such world champions as Galileo and Sea The Stars. She had a slight fitness advantage here, so it is by no means certain that she will confirm the form when the two fillies meet, as planned. In the Preis der Diana itself on August 6^th at Düsseldorf. Tusked Wings now probably goes straight to that race, while Well Spoken will probably run again beforehand; bookmakers RaceBets make the pair joint-favourites at 5-1.

The following day it was the turn of the colts to strut their stuff in Hanover´s listed Derby Trial. Unfortunately this event was ruined by an accident, when the front-runner, longshot Royal Flag (Jukebox Jury) suddenly spooked at a shadow just before the far turn, causing mayhem. The favourite Windstoss (Shirocco) was brought down and jockey Adrie de Vries, who has been very unlucky with injuries recently, broke his finger, while Promise of Peace (King Kamehameha) was almost knocked over as well, with jockey Eduardo Pedroza performing miracles to stay in the saddle, and Rosenpurpur (Pour Moi) also badly hampered.

This incident left Sargas (Shirocco) in front from Parviz (Lope de Vega) and these trwo dominated the race from then on. For a while it seemed that Sargas could land another black type race for the Ullmann stable and trainer Jean-Pierre Carvalho, following the previous day´s success with Tusked Wings, but Parviz took his measure at the distance and went on to win by two lengths. Rosenpurpur recovered quickly from being hampered and finished third, another length and a half back, and for a brief moment seemed to be back in contention, while Promise of Peace also made up ground to finish fifth.

Obviously both Rosenpurpur and Promise of Peace are much better than their finishing positions indicated and it is impossible to say how the race might have developed without this incident. The handicapper was however not impressed and has given Parviz a relatively poor rating, which seems unfair. All seven runners in this race have an entry in the Deutsches Derby and connections of at least four of them will feel justified in going for that race. Parviz, trained by Waldemar Hickst at Cologne, who is currently in great form, runs in the Darius Racing colours of 2016 Derby winner Isfahan and was bred in Ireland by German-owned Haras de la Perelle and cost his present connections 70,000 euros at Arqana.

A more significant – and one hopes, more straightforward – trial for the German Derby will be run at Cologne this Sunday. This is the Oppenheim-Union-Rennen, normally the best trial – although in fact only two horses have done the double in recent years – Wiener Walzer in 2009 and Sea The Moon in 2014. This is the oldest race in the German calendar, dating back to 1834. Originally run in Berlin, it has been staged at Cologne since 1947.

Eight horses line up, and four of them are trained by Markus Klug on the outskirts of Cologne. Rather surprisingly, they include Windstoss, who apparently has suffered no ill effects from his fall last Monday. With stable jockey Adrie de Vries still out of action, jockey bookings suggest that Colomano (Cacique) might be the best of them; he is to be partnered by the experienced Andreas Helfenbein, who also rode Sea The Moon to victory here. Shanjo (Soldier Hollow) and Northsea Star (Sea The Stars) are the stable´s other two runners and are not without a chance. However the two most interesting runners could be Warring States (Victoire Pisa), a Japanese-bred colt owned by Qatar Racing and trained by Andreas Wöhler, and Monreal (Peintre Celebre), who bids to become yet another big race winner for Stall Ullmann and trainer Jean-Pierre Carvalho. All eight runners are entered in the Deutsches Derby and they are all quoted in ante-post betting; Wöhler´s Langtang (Campanologist) is favourite, with Warring States and Parviz joint second favourites, and  Windstoss, Shanju, Colomano and Monreal all quoted at short prices as well. Whoever wins on Sunday is likely to challenge Langtang for favouritism at Hamburg.

David Conolly-Smith