The English page - Two German horses for the "Arc"

The most interesting race last weekend from the German point of view was not run in Germany at all, but in France. This was the Group Two Prix Foy at Chantilly, one of several races on the card regarded as trials for the Prix de l´Arc de Triomphe. Dschingis Secret (Soldier Hollow), winner of the Grosser Preis von Berlin at Hoppegarten last time, was one of six runners, and he was fourth in the betting  with Japanese hope Satono Diamond (Deep Impact) the clear favourite. However the soft ground did not suit the Japanese raider and he faded to finish fourth after disputing the lead two out, while Dschinghis Secret, ridden with great purpose by Adrie de Vries, hit the front at the distance and ran on with great determination to win by a length and a half.

This was undoubtedly a smart performance, and puts the four-year-old, trained at Röttgen by Markus Klug, bang into the Arc reckoning, particularly if the going is soft again, as seems quite possible. Clearly the Newmarket-trained filly Enable is the one to beat, and nobody really expects that Dschinghis Secret is the one to do this, but otherwise the race looks relatively weak this year. As a three-year-old filly Enable receives 4 ½ kilos from the older horses, and if she can repeat the form of her last four easy Group One victories, she looks almost impregnable. But the places are also lucrative and Dschinghis Secret must have a good chance of grabbing some of the prize-money. So, for that matter, has another likely German runner Iquitos (Adlerflug), who was slightly below par at Baden-Baden last time. At his best he is not far off Dschinghis Secret.

Dschingis Secret has now won five of his last six starts, and his only defeats in the past fourteen months have both come at left-handed Baden-Baden, a course that clearly does not suit him. He is much better going right-handed. He was bred by Helmut von Finck´s Gestüt Park Wiedingen, who also own his sire Soldier Hollow (In The Wings).  He was bought for 200,000 euros at the BBAG yearling sale in 2014 by Horst Pudwill, a German businessman (and reportedly billionaire) based in Hong Kong. Herr Pudwill has recently doubled up by buying his own brother at the recent BBAG sale for the top price of the sale, 500,000 euros. The youngster is apparently to be named Dschinghis Revenge, a clear reference to his narrow defeat in last year´s German Derby and the endless objections and appeals that followed. Herr Pudwill himself is a bit of a mystery man, and has never, as far as is known, set foot on a German racecourse.

The best race in Germany last weekend was the Group Three Grosser Europa Meile at Düsseldorf. Andreas Wöhler had supplemented his three-year-old filly Delectation (Delegator) for this and the filly duly scored very easily by three and a half lengths from Millowitsch (Sehrezad). Delectation had been an unlucky fourth in the German 1,000 Guineas over this course and distance in June, had run respectably in much better company since and was clear favourite here. That was her last race in Germany; she is to run next in the First Lady Stakes at Keeneland and after that the Australian-owned filly is expected to stay in the United States, where she will have much better opportunities than here. Millowitsch ran his usual game race; he has been running well at both six furlongs and a mile this year, but there are virtually no races for him at his preferred distance of seven furlongs.

We have black type races this weekend at Hanover and Dortmund, and at the time of writing there is likely to be soft ground at both tracks. At the former, a listed race for fillies and mares over a mile is the main feature. At Thursday's first declaration stage, ten were left in including one filly from France and one from the U.K.; however if the ratings are a reliable guide, this should go to a domestic runner, either locally-trained Wild Approach (New Approach) or Sunny Belle (Exceed and Excel), who put up an eye-catching performance when runner-up in a similar event over seven furlongs at Baden-Baden last time.

More interesting is the Group Three Deutsches St. Leger at Dortmund. Only the original St. Leger at Doncaster, the world´s oldest classic, is still true to the classic tradition in restricting the race to three-year-olds. Like the St. Legers in France, Ireland and elsewhere, the Dortmund version is also open to older horses and in fact only three of the ten left in on Thursday are three-year-olds. Oriental Eagle (Campanologist) could be the best of them; he was a spectacular all-the-way winner of a valuable sales race at Baden-Baden and clearly stays very well. Of the older horses, Near England (Lord of England) won the race last year and is certainly not without a chance of scoring again, but preference is for Sound Check (Lando), running for the same connections as Sunny Belle at Hanover. He is an own brother to the smart Scalo, but as a son of Lando he might not want too much more rain to fall.

The “original” St. Leger is also run this weekend, at Doncaster on Saturday, and so is the Austrian version. This letter event is, to be honest, of only minor importance, but the race is to be run at the historic Freudenau racecourse in Vienna, one of Europe´s best racecourses in times gone by, and now staging its first race meeting for eight years. Your correspondent is now off to Vienna to experience this historic occasion for himself, and hopes to report on it in next week´s Turf Times.

David Conolly-Smith