The English page - 200 Years of German Racing

These lines are written before Alpinista (Frankel) runs in the Group One Yorkshire Oaks; but Ms Rausing´s great mare, unbeaten for the past two years, won again and gave another boost to German form. Alpinista won three Group One races in Germany last year, the best of which was the Grosser Preis von Berlin, in which she defeated subsequent Arc winner Torquator Tasso and subsequent Canadian Group One winner Walton Street. As a result the race was officially rated the 31^st best race in the world in 2021, and easily the best race run in Germany. This is unlikely to be the case with the latest renewal, run last Sunday at Hoppegarten, and won by Godolphin´s supplemented 4yo gelding Rebel´ s Romance (Dubawi).

This is not intended to be in any way disrespectful to the winner, who won it well and thus continued Charlie Appleby´s amazing run of international Group One successes. Rebel´s Romance has now won seven of his ten career starts; for his first two years he raced only on the all-weather, winning twice in the U.K. and also twice in Meydan, including the UAE Derby. This year he has been switched to turf and has shown continually improving form, winning all three of his starts on this natural surface. This was his first start in a Group One and one has to be a bit dubious about the strength of the form.

The race was run at a slow pace, with nobody seemingly wanting to make the running. James Doyle on Rebel´s Romance, backed down to even money favourite, was happy to sit in second last place until the straight was reached. He then brought his mount with a smooth run on the outside, to hit the front over a furlong out and then hold off the late charge of Nerik (Ruler of the World). Nerik  who sadly pulled up lame and has now been retired, ran his best race ever having shown great promise in his earlier starts, notably his fifth place in the German Derby, where Ardakan (Reliable Man), who finished just behind him in eighth place, and that one finished well to go third here, thus confirming once again the reliability of this year´s German Derby form.

The winning distance was only a neck, but one never had the impression that Nerik was ever going to win; nevertheless this was a strong performance, and it is a great shame that Nerik is now lost to German racing; currently a place is being sought for him to stand as a stallion with interest already shown from several quarters. The handicapper has put Rebel´s Romance up slightly to GAG 97 ½ (=115) and Nerlk to 96 ½ (113), which in all honesty is not a great compliment to the race. Where Rebel´s Romance goes next is not clear, but Charlie Appleby, who was at Deauville, indicated later that he would return fo Germany; the two possibilities would seem to be the Grosser Preis von Baden and the Preis von Europa.  The latter would be easier, but the former is also being considered. However Rebel´s Romance would have to show considerable improvement to defeat Torquator Tasso and Sammarco, currently the two best horses in training in Germany and both due to run at Baden-Baden.

The time of the Hoppegarten race was quite decent, especially in view of the slow early pace, and was much faster than the three other races run at the meeting over this distance. We also had a listed race on Saturday over 1800 metres, which was won by the 4yo filly Techno Music (Oasis Dream), who was stepping up in grade but still won comfortably. There were also two listed races on the Sunday, which both went abroad, giving the foreign raiders a clean sweep of the day´s top races. First Kindred Spirit (Invincible Spirit), trained in France by Francis-Henri Graffard, produced a spectacular burst of speed to win over 1200 metres, getting up close home to defeat British hope Fauvette (Dark Angel) by a head. The first three here were all trained abroad, giving a fair indication of the current state of German sprinting. That is no real surprise, but it was certainly a surprise to see Polish-trained (but French-bred) Hipop de Loire (American Post) to win the listed race over 2800 metres.

The three foreign winners did nothing to dampen enthusiasm at Hoppegarten on what must be regarded as a highly successful meeting. The weather was slightly too hot for comfort, which kept the crowds down, but that has been a regular problem this year and is also likely to be a topic at the Grosse Woche at Baden-Baden, which starts next week.

The whole weekend in Berlin was intended to be a celebration of 200 years of German racing; the meeting at Bad Doberan on August 10^th 1822 is regarded as the first proper race meeting for thoroughbreds in Germany. The weekend had started with a reception in Berlin´s famed Adlon Hotel, next to the Brandenburg Gate, which was attended by all the movers and shakers of German racing. Guest of honour was German-born Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, now CEO of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, but the real star of the show in our eyes was our old colleague Harald Siemen, now Germany´s chief handicapper, but also known as the best historian of German racing. He was there to present his new book, “200 Jahre/ 200 Momente”, a history of German racing. The book, with many wonderful illustrations, attempts to show the development of racing in Germany through 200 well chosen races and events; in this he succeeds admirably.

It is generally known that horse racing, as an organized sport, first began in England in the late 17^th century. However it is certainly not so well known that Germany was the first country in continental Europe to take it up,  well before France; which these days is a far more important racing nation. Racing caught on quickly in Germany, and also later in Austro-Hungary, and by the end of the 19^th century there were over 100 racecourses in Germany staging regular race meetings. Siemen´s book deals with this crowded period, followed by the disasters of the First World War and then in succession by the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, the Second World War and the cold war which followed, which left half of Germany – including Hoppegarten—behind the Iron Curtain. The book handles all these dramatic developments extremely well; it seems certain to become the standard work on German racing history and although the text is of course in German, it should become an essential part of every racing library. It is published by Deutscher Sportverlag (DSV), also the publishers of Germany´s racing paper the Sport-Welt; it costs 49 euros (in Germany) and is worth every penny. ISBN is 978-3-967360-03-8

After three successive Sundays with a Group One race, this weekend is much quieter. There are no group races, but two listed races for fillies at Düsseldorf and Hannover on Sunday, both with runners from abroad. However next week the action moves up a gear with the start of the Grosse Woche at Baden-Baden.

David Conolly-Smith