Breeding & Racing in Germany

As expected, there was a good international entry for the Group Two Oleander-Rennen in Hoppegarten on May 12th, Germany´s top race for stayers, including several from the U.K. There were also some U.K. entries for Cologne´s Carl Jaspers-Preis (ex-Gerling) a week earlier. Obviously any possible runners from the U.K. will depend on what happens in the British parliament and if the crazy catastrophe called Brexit goes ahead, and in what form. The EU is clearly getting fed up with the unbelievable incompetence of the British government, but it is essential that we have some agreement in place by the end of this month regarding the movement of horses (and much else besides!), otherwise we could be in a situation where it would be virtually impossible for horses trained in the U.K.to run in German races. We devoutly hope that this situation will not arise and that a solution can be found.

This seems a very convenient week to look at the huge impact that German thoroughbreds, or at least those with German connections, have made on Australian racing in recent years. The anomaly of Australian racing is that the local breeders concentrate almost entirely on producing sprinters, but the country´s most valuable and iconic race is the Melbourne Cup over two miles. For a long time New Zealand breeders took advantage of this situation, and dominated the “race that stops a nation” for many decades, but since Dermot Weld stunned the locals by sending Vintage Crop (Rousillon) from Ireland to win the Melbourne Cup in 1993, and then followed up with Media Puzzle (Theatrical) in 2002, European-breds have held sway, and German owners and breeders have profited strongly from this trend.

Two weeks ago we looked at the leading German 2yo´s of 2018, their handicap ratings and their prospects for this year. Obviously the four group races for this age group were the decisive factor in the ratings; they were Baden-Baden´s Zukunftsrennen, won by Quest The Moon (Sea The Moon), Cologne´s Preis des Winterfavoriten, won by Noble Moon (Sea The Moon) in a photo-finish from Django Freeman (Campanologist), the Preis der Winterkönigin at Baden-Baden won by Whispering Angel (Soldier Hollow) and the Herzog von Ratibor-Rennen at Krefeld, won by Donjah (Teofilo).

After the publication last week of the International Classifications, this week the German Generalausgleich (GAG) has been published, listing all horses qualified for handicaps in Germany. The top older horses have been giving the same ratings as in the International Classifications, converted to the German scale. An international rating of 120 (in pounds) is equivalent to a GAG of 100 (in kilos); no German-trained horse reached this mark in 2018, a relatively poor year for German bloodstock, when the classic generation in particular failed to shine. The top German runners in 2018 were Dschingis Secret (Soldier Hollow) and Iquitos (Adlerflug),both older horses and now retired to stud, on 118 (=99 GAG).

Brexit has been on everybody´s mind this week, following Tuesday´s rejection by the British Parliament of the May government´s proposals for a “soft” Brexit and the subsequent failure of a vote of no confidence in her government. Teresa May has until Monday to come up with a Plan B, but nobody seems to know what this will look like, or whether it will be acceptable either to the EU or to Parliament, which is expected to vote on the proposals on Tuesday. What is certain is that the British political scene has changed dramatically for the worse and nobody comes out of this with credit.