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The English page: „Never forget a horse´s best form”

Robin of Navan storming home in the RaceBets Meilen Trophy. www.galoppfoto.de - Stephanie Gruttmann

Autor: 

David Conolly-Smith

TurfTimes: 

Ausgabe 578 vom Freitag, 26.07.2019

The truth of this old racing adage was demonstrated again last Sunday at Düsseldorf, when Robin of Navan (American Post), trained by Harry Dunlop in Lambourn, made all the running to win the Group Two Meilen-Trophy. There were two U.K.-trained runners in the race, and punters clearly believed that the other, Indian Blessing (Sepoy) was the better, and he went off as 2.6-1 second favourite, while Robin of Navan paid an amazing 15.4-1!  Admittedly Robin of Navan was coming off a long losing run, but anyone who had taken the trouble to look through his old form would have seen that he had won a Group One at two (defeating subsequent Arc runner-up Cloth of Stars) and had been placed several times in much better company than this. He is arguably the best European son of his sire American Post (Bering), who died in 2016. He was ridden here with great confidence by local jockey Alexander Pietsch and could be called the winner a long way from home. Indian Blessing, who was held up, ran on to take second place and give the British raiders another one-two. The sad fact is that the current German milers are not up to much, and almost every race over this distance in Germany this year has gone to a raider from abroad. Even sadder is the fact that the favourite, the three-year-old filly Shalona (Soldier Hollow) suffered an injury during the race and has been retired, a definite loss to the German scene.  As for Robin of Navan, he has been entered all over the place and he could next run in Norway.

The good news from the German point of view is that, while we had a longshot U.K. winner in a German group race, we also had a longshot German winner in a British group race. This was Gestüt Brümmerhof´s  homebred Waldpfad (Shamardal), who won Newbury´s Hackwood Stakes over six furlongs at odds of 33-1. There was certainly no fluke about this success, as he took the lead over a furlong out under Andrea Atzeni and soon put the race to bed. His trainer Dominik Moser has become a real spring specialist and now has the two best German specialists at this trip in this yard: the five-year-old Waldpfad, a member of the celebrated Ravensberg “W” family and related to such stars as Prix Ganay winner Waldgeist, and Namos (Medicean), also bred by Brümmerhof but now the only horse owned by Berlin civil servant Petra Stucke. Both these smart performers left the BBAG rind unsold as yearlings; Waldpfad was bought in for 390,000 euros, and was for a while trained by Andreas Wöhler for a syndicate organized by Brümmerhof boss Gregor Baum;  he then reverted to Brümmerhof´s sole ownership and was switched to their main trainer, Moser, who has successfully brought him down in trip after he mainly ran over a mile last year. Namos, regarded as a late developer, was unsold at 64,000 euros. Frau Stucke saw him during Brümmerhof´s open day last year and liked him so much she bought him for reportedly 30,000 euros, less than half the final BBAG bid for him. He won Baden-Baden´s Group Three Silberne Peitsche at 15-1 and then finished an excellent fifth in the Group One Prix Jean Prat at Deauville.

The logical next race for this pair would be the Group Two Goldene Peitsche at Baden-Baden´s big meeting at the end of next month, Germany´s most prestigious sprint, but Moser has ambitious plans and they could both leave this out. Namos is expected to return to Deauville for the Group One Prix Maurice de Gheest on the Sunday of next week, while Namos has been entered in Haydock Park´s Sprint Cup, also Group One.

Group One action is also hotting up in Germany, and this Sunday we have the Grosser Dallmayr-Preis at Munich, by far Germany´s best race over the fashionable distance of ten furlongs. It is often the highest-rated race in Germany, and it certainly was last year when it was won by Godolphin´s Benbatl (Dubawi), who then went to Australia and won the Group One Ladbrokes Stakes before finishing an excellent runner-up to Winx in the Cox Plate. Last year´s form is now represented by Stormy Antarctic (Stormy Atlantic), who finished second, as well as Wai Key Star (Soldier Hollow) and Walsingham (Campanologist), who were both unplaced.

Stormy Antarctic, trained by Ed Walker, is however one of three likely U.K.-trained runners and there is little between them. The others are David Menuisier´s Danceteria (Redoute´s Choice), fourth to Enable last time in the Eclipse Stakes, and Mark Johnston´s Matterhorn (Raven´s Pass), whose form is slightly inconsistent but is certainly good enough to win this on a going day. Earlier in the season he finished well in front of Danceteria in Sandown Park´s Brigadier Gerard Stakes.

Of the six German hopes taking them on, the best is likely to be Quest the Moon (Sea The Moon), one of three runners in the colours of Stall Salzburg and trained locally by Sarah Steinberg. He will be ridden by Oisin Murphy, who partnered Benbatl last year, and finished fourth last time out in the German Derby. He was drawn wide and never got cover and is likely to be much better than that form suggests. Earlier he had won the Group Three Prix du Lys at ParisLongchamp and before that had been runner-up in the Bavarian Classic over Sunday´s course and distance, form which has worked out very well. He will be the first runner from the Derby field to be seen out since, and a good performance here would be a huge boost not only to the Derby form but also to the Munich training centre and basically to the whole of German racing.

David Conolly-Smith

 

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