Tactical triumph for Guignol

The „Grosse Woche“ at Baden-Baden, the most important German meeting  of the year has been and gone and the rest of the season, with a couple of notable exceptions, is a bit of an anti-climax. We saw some excellent performances and in particular a fine tactical triumph for trainer Jean-Pierre Carvalho and jockey Filip Minarik who teamed up to win the Group One Grosser Preis von Baden with Stall Ullmann´s homebred Guignol (Cape Cross). Guignol made all the running to win by two and a half lengths from hot favourite (and 2016 winner) Iquitos (Adlerflug), thus repeating the result of the big race at the May meeting here over a furlong shorter. Guignol had also defeated Iquitos in last year´s Grosser Preis von Bayern but there is clearly very little between them.

Iquitos is known to show his best form when held up in last place off a strong pace, but Minarik, on the front-runner, was not prepared to do him any favours and the pace was very steady for the first nine furlongs; Guignol suddenly quickened on the turn into the straight and basically had the race won there and then. Iquitos was unsettled by these tactics, and only just held on for second place from Colomano (Cacique), running his best race since winning the Union-Rennen. German Derby winner Windstoss (Shirocco) was a never dangerous fourth, while the two foreign runners, both Godolphin-owned and Saeed bin Suroor-trained, took the last two places and were both unsuited by the going, which was much faster than forecast after the expected rain had stayed away.

Guignol is clearly much better when going left-handed, and his next start is likely to be an attempt on a repeat win at left-handed Munich in the Grosser Preis von Bayern. After that the Japan Cup beckons at left-handed Tokyo, in which he would now receive a lucrative bonus just for showing up. His rating has been put up a pound to 119, while old rival Dschingis Secret is the highest-rated horse in Germany on 120, and Iquitos stays on 118. The former on the other hand needs right-handed tracks; he runs on Sunday in the Prix Foy and if that goes well, he then runs in the Arc, which is still the main target for Iquitos.

The Baden-Baden result confirmed the general impression that the German three-year-old colts are nothing special this season. Colomano certainly ran a good race, but the Derby form has taken several knocks since Windstoss scored in such good style over two months ago. Both those two are now rated 115; the best three-year-old in the country, once the sex allowance is taken into account, is the Preis der Diana (Oaks) winner Lacazar (Adlerflug) on 114. She runs next in the Prix de l´Opera, but trainer Peter Schiergen has another possible for that race in Ashiana (Mastercraftsman), who came from far back with an impressive burst of speed to win the T. von Zastrow Stutenpreis by half a length. She has been put on 107, which hardly seems adequate. Victory in that event qualified her for the Fillies and Mares Turf at the Breeders Cup, and as owner Eckhard Sauren – also president of the race club at Cologne- is very adventurous, she could well travel to Del Mar after Chantilly.

The final day of the Baden-Baden meeting may have ended with a slightly disappointing performance from Windstoss, but it was still a good day for owner-breeder Gestüt Röttgen, trainer Markus Klug and jockey Adrie de Vries, as their filly Narella (Reliable Man) had earlier taken the prestigious Zukunfts-Rennen in excellent style by two lengths from another filly Auenperle (Areion).This performance clearly makes Narella the best two-year-old so far seen out in Germany this year. She is from a top Röttgen family, but her sire Reliable Man (Dalakhani) was sent to France earlier this year with his international owners complaining that he was not getting enough support from German breeders. This is a shame, as he was undoubtedly a valuable addition to the German stallion scene, as the results from New Zealand show.

However the stallion who had a really superb week was Areion,(Big Shuffle), who at 22 is having his best ever season – and he has already been champion sire here three times. Apart from his excellent results from Baden-Baden, his four-year-old Wonnemond won the Topkapi Trophy at Istanbul´s International Meeting after a brilliant ride by Daniele Porcu, who brought him with a sweeping run from last place to lead in the final 50 yards. The winner´s purse here was a staggering 270,000 euros; he had also been entered for the Oettingen-Rennen at Baden-Baden (in which last year´s winner Pas De Deux (by Saddex) made all to double up), in which the winner collects 40,000 euros - a sad reflection on the level of prize-money in Germany.

This weekend´s racing is not as exciting, and the main event is the Group Three Grosse Europa-Meile at Düsseldorf. There could be another filly in the winner´s enclosure here, as trainer Andreas Wöhler has supplemented Australian Bloodstock´s Delectation (Delegator). She had no chance in a Newmarket Group One last time, but her unlucky fourth place in the German 1,000 Guineas over this course and distance three months ago gives her excellent prospects. The main supporting feature is a listed race for two-year-olds in which Richard Hannon has two runners; they can both finish in the frame.

David Conolly-Smith