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The English page: Racing & Breeding in Germany 11

Shimrano and David Baker, Manager of Australia Racing Stables. © Dr. Jens Fuchs

Autor: 

David Conolly-Smith

TurfTimes: 

Ausgabe 372 vom Donnerstag, 18.06.2015

The Union-Rennen, now sponsored by the Oppenheim bank, is the oldest race in the German calendar and was first run at Hoppegarten in 1834. It has been run at Cologne since the end of the second world war and has established itself as the premier trial for the IDEE 146. Deutsches Derby. Sea The Moon (Sea The Stars) brought off the double last year, while the previous two winners were Ivanhowe (Soldier Hollow) and Novellist (Monsun), both beaten favourites at Hamburg but who both later proved themselves to be the best of their crop in Germany.

It is too early to predict that last week´s winner Shimrano, another son of Monsun, will follow in their footsteps, but he certainly seems to have the right credentials. Irishman Paul Harley trains him at Hanover an d he was partnered as usual by Dutchman Adrie de Vries, who will also ride him as Hamburg.  His victory was more workmanlike than spectacular, but connections seemed very satisfied with what they had seen - including Australian bloodstock agent David Baker, who had bought him for his current owners, Australia Racing Stables, after his impressive maiden victory last October at his local track.

The complete race video, photos  and full result here (under "Renndetails"/Shimrano/No. 6: Klick!

Shimrano was bred by Gestüt Brümmerhof – who are in any case closely involved with Hanover racecourse- but comes from a distinguished Aga Khan family and is distantly related to the great Shergar. His dam Shimrana (Daylami) was bought by Brümmerhof as an unraced three-year-old for 220,000 euros. Shimrano is her third foal; the first two were useful, but Shimrano looks the real deal and has always been highly regarded. He started 2015 with a second place to the smart Quasillo (Sea The Stars) at Munich in April, bjt tnhat was certainly no disgrace as he was giving that smart performer three kilos and also badly needed the race. His later success at Hanover was much better and the Cologne victory last week clearly puts him bang in the Derby picture.

“I was very happy with that and he has come out of the race really well,” says Harley. “It was important for us to see him run for the first time on a right-handed track; he was a bit babyish on the first turn, but after that there were no problems. He has learned a lot from the race and will improve further; in addition, the slow early pace and the very fast ground  were against him.” Although the winning margin was only three-quarters of a length, he was clearly the best horse in the field; the placed horses are highly likely to take him on again in just over a fortnight´s time at Hamburg, but there seems no logical reason why they should reverse the form.

That said, the runner-up, Ittlingen´s homebred Areo (Medicean) ran a very promising race and also comes on to the short list for Hamburg; he is out of a Pivotal mare and is another one who would probably prefer more cut in the ground. Stall Nizza´s homebred Nutan (Duke of Marmalade) ran on again for third after being slightly hampered; he is a half-brother to Group One winner Nymphea (Dylan Thomas) and also closely related to Nightflower, who finished eighth at almost exactly the same time in the Prix de Diane.

Sunday also saw two of last season´s best fillies come back to form. Klaus Hofmann´s homebred Ajaxana (Rock of Gibraltar) took the listed race at Cologne, outbattling the English challenger Crowley´s Law (Dubawi) who had looked a freal threat at the distance; it was Ajaxana´s first victory since taking the 2014 German 1,000 Guineas and she will now be aimed at the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket ´s July meeting. Another listed race for fillies and mares, this time at Hanover, went to Gestüt Görlsdorf´s homebred Wunder (Adlerflug), the beaten favourite (after being badly hampered) in last year´s Preis der Diana.

The complete race video, photos  and full result here (under "Renndetails"/Ajaxana /No. 1: Klick!

Looking forward to this weekend, there are three races of significance. On Saturday, there is another listed race for fillies, this time for three-year-olds only, at Düsseldorf; this is a trial for the Preis der Diana, to be run at the same course over slightly further in early August, and six of the eight runners are entered in that classic. On all known form however it looks a match between Arles (Monsun), runner-up to Nightflower in the Diana-Trial, and Nymeria (Soldier Hollow), runner-up here in the German 1,000 Guineas. On Sunday, Bremen stages its Derby Trial and with the Hamburg race only a fortnight away this is a last chance for some outsiders to qualify for the big race; however, with all due respect, we cannot imagine any of these runners making much of an impact at Hamburg.

The Grosser Preis der Wirtschaft over 1750 metres at Dortmund is more interesting as it is almost the first chance for the better three-year-olds to run against their elders. It looks as if five three-year-olds and three older horses will be taking part, but it could be that the older horses are at an advantage: Guiliani (Tertullian) was just touched off in the Badener Meile last time, while the much-improved El Tren (Danehill Dancer), from the all-conquering Andreas Wöhler stable, looks well worth a try in this better company. He would be a popular winner, as he is owned by three football internationals, including Germany´s World Cup star Thomas Müller.

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