The English page - Stall Salzburg now leading owner

We had another successful long weekend in Germany with two Group Two races – the Diana Trial at Hoppegarten and the Mehl-Mülhens-Rennen (German 2,000 Guineas) at Cologne – as the main features. The mild winter and dry spring meant that most leading trainers already have their strings in good form despite the enforced break, with the usual suspects such as Andreas Wöhler and Peter Schiergen well to the fore. However the trainers who have so far dominated the top races are two relative youngsters, Cologne-based Henk Grewe (37) and Munich´s Sarah Steinberg (32).

This was the case again last Whit weekend, where Grewe started by saddling a double at Dresden on Saturday, including the main race, a BBAG sales race for 3yo´s over six furlongs, with Gestüt Karlshof´s homebred La La Land (Outstrip), who made almost all the running under stable jockey Andrasch Starke and was not hard pressed to score by half a length from the fast-finishing Big Beat (Soldier Hollow). La La Land looks very useful at this distance and could be a major factor in Germany´s top sprint races; she is also entered in the German 1,000 Guineas but whether she gets a mile remains to be seen. An interesting and positive feature of the meeting was that owners (a maximum of two per horse) were allowed on to the racecourse for the first time since the lockdown began in March. This ls likely to be the case on all German racecourses from now on, subject to the approval of the local authorities and to the current distancing and hygiene regulations.

The action moved on to Berlin on Sunday, where Grewe saddled two runners in the Diana Trial. Starke partnered Flamingo Girl (Soldier Hollow) while Steinberg ran Zamrud (Samum), both easy winners in a lesser grade last time out, and they started joint favourites. However they both finished unplaced; instead it was Grewe´s second string Kalifornia Queen (Lope de Vega) who quickened through a gap on the inside rail to win fairly comfortably by 1 ¾ lengths from another outsider Snow (Sea The Moon). It was an unruly race, and Zamrud in particular got no sort of a run, but the form probably stands up and Kalifornia Queen is now an interesting possibility for the Preis der Diana itself, for which she is currently quoted at 9-1, while connections are also apparently eyeing the Belmont Oaks, which will now be run in late September. Kalifornia Queen was bred and is also owned by Stall Torjäger, a group of professional footballers managed by Lars-Wilhelm Baumgarten. Baumgarten is also the driving force behind Grewe´s Wonderful Moon (Sea The Moon), clear ante-post favourite for the German Derby

It was Steinberg´s turn at Cologne on Monday, where she won both the main races. First the Mehl-Mülhens-Rennen with Fearless King (Kingman) and then the listed Röttgen Cup for older horses over 1850 metres with the 4yo gelding Runnymede (Dansili). Both are owned by Stall Salzburg, the nom de course of mattress manufacturer Hans-Gerd Wernicke, both were Tattersalls graduates and both were ridden by René Piechulek, who is also Steinberg´s partner in private life. The same team had also triumphed in the main event at Baden-Baden´s meeting last week, so at the moment Stall Salzburg is leading owner in Germany this season by quite a margin.

Runnymede, who has since been gelded, cost 75,000 guineas at the February sale and won last year´s Swiss 2,000 Guineas, Steinberg´s first classic winner. However Fearless King, her second, is clearly much more significant. He was also more expensive, costing 175,000 guineas at the October Yearling Sale (Book Two). He now looks very well bought, especially as Kingman now stands at a fee of 150,000 at Banstead Manor. Grewe saddled three of the seven runners at Cologne, including the hitherto unbeaten Rubaiyat (Areion), who had won the main trial, the Dr. Busch Memorial, in which Fearless King had finished an eye-catching third. The first four from the trial took the first four places at Cologne, but not in the same order.

Grewe´s Zavaro (Areion) made the running at a decent pace, with Rubaiyat, who started at 3-5, in third and Fearless King tracking the favourite. Rubaiyat moved up to take the lead at the distance, but was immediately tackled by Fearless King, who went on narrowly and held his lead all the way to the line, scoring by a head. Grewe´s Santurin (Sommerabend) finished well to go third close home, so that the trainer´s runners finished second, third and fourth. The trainer was philosophical: “the best horse on the day was the winner, but we would certainly have preferred easier ground for Rubaiyat.” This was however true for the other runners as well, including the winner, as the ground was riding extremely fast.

Fearless King is a compact and extremely handsome individual and it will be interesting to see where he goes from here. Steinberg considers that he might be best at 2000 metres, but she has other runners lined up for Germany´s best race at this trip, so foreign starts – once the borders are reopened – look possible. Rubaiyat is now reportedly being aimed at the Italian 2,000 Guineas. The Cologne race is unlikely to have much bearing on the German Derby as none of the main protagonists look as if they will stay the Derby distance.

This weekend ´s action is low key, with no group races, and listed events at Düsseldorf on Saturday and Hanover on Sunday. There are only five runners for the Düsseldorf Derby Trial, which is not normally one of the main trials but was won last year by Laccario (Scalo), who went on to score at Hamburg, so this week´s winner has a lot to live up to. It is likely to be Adrian (Reliable Man), runner-up in what was probably a stronger field at Baden-Baden, and he can add to Henk Grewe´s strong hand for Hamburg. The obvious danger is Markus Klug´s filly Deia (Soldier Hollow), a very promising winner of her only start so far. Her obvious target is the Preis der Diana and she is certainly bred for the job, being an own sister to Group One winner Dschingis Secret and other smart performers.

There are larger fields for the main races at Hanover, two listed races for fillies and mares, and a BBAG sales race, again the most valuable race of the day, for 3y s over a mile. This looks wide open with 16 runners and possibly the Salzburg/ Steinberg runner Wahiba Sands (Footstepsinthesand) can continue the stable´s winning run, As for the listed races, Stex (Lord of England) has already won a similar race here this year, but is not certain to be able to give weight to Akribie (Reliable Man), one of last year´s top fillies. An interesting runner in the 1400 metres race is ex-US Go Rose, owned by Team Valor and now trained by Andreas Wöhler, but she has not run for almost a year and K Club (Kodiac), who ran really well at Baden-Baden a fortnight ago, can be preferred.

David Conolly-Smith