The English page: Millowitsch and El Loco fought out the finish of the Dr. Busch-Memorial

The feature of the German season so far has been the excellent form of trainer Markus Klug, who is based in the grounds of Gestüt Röttgen near Cologne airport. He had no runners at all during the all-weather season, but since turf racing started again five weeks ago he has saddled 14 winners from 40 starters for a strike rate of 35%, with another 20 placed. This is even more meritorious when one considers that he has frequently saddled two runners in the top events.

That was the case last Sunday at Krefeld, when his two runners Millowitsch (Sehrezad) and El Loco (Lope de Vega) fought out the finish of the Dr. Busch-Memorial, usually the best trial for the Mehl-Mülhens-Rennen (German 2,000 Guineas). El Loco made most of the running, but Millowitsch – who had to be switched to his outside at the distance- put in a determined challenge and got up on the line to win by a nose. Klug immediately confirmed him for the Mehl-Mülhens-Rnnen, while El Loco, who is more stoutly bred, will go next for the Derby trial at Baden-Baden´s Spring Meeting.
Millowitsch, homebred by the well-known Cologne owner Dr. Alexandra Renz, won three of his four races last season; he was not Germany´s highest-rated two-year-old, but he won the most prize-money, one of his victories coming in the valuable Baden-Baden sales race in October. He has a most unusual pedigree, being a son of Sehrezad (Titius Livius), one of Germany´s leading milers a few years ago, when he won three group races, all over a mile, and was placed in several more. Sehrezad retired to stud at Gestüt Helenenhof in 2012 at a fee of 2,000 euros, but had very small books and sadly died last year after a paddocks accident. According to official German statistics, he sired only twenty foals in his four years at Helenenhof, and as far as we can see, Millowitsch is the only one of his offspring to have raced in Germany (there are possibly one or two in Hungary). Although he was not stopping at the end of Krefeld´s 1700 metres race, his pedigree strongly suggests that a mile will be his best distance. He was therefore not entered in the Deutsches Derby, but El Loco is, and so is third-placed Noor Al Hawa (Makfi), whose owner Jaber Abdullah had come to see him; he was noted keeping on well, and as he was said to be in need of the race, owner as well as trainer Andreas Wöhler were both very satisfied with what they saw. It is not at all inconceivable that he could reverse the Krefeld form when he meets Millowitsch in the Guineas.
The Dr. Busch-Memorial was not the only Krefeld race with possible classic candidates on view. Klug also saddled the well-bred Fährhof-bred Danlia (Lando out of a Dubawi mare) and despite running green, she won nicely and looks certain to show considerable improvement. She is from the top class “D” family developed at Röttgen and is related to Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom. She probably goes next for the Diana-Trial at Hoppegarten. She will have to prove her stamina there, but one likely opponent who will certainly get the trip is Ittlingen´s homebred Lopera, who won at Hoppegarten over ten furlongs, making all running and keeping on well despite running very free in the early stages. She is trained by Peter Schiergen, who knows the family well: she is from the last crop of the great Monsun and out of a mare very closely related to Lando, two stars of the early nineties who were regularly ridden by Schiergen in his jockey career.
A likely candidate for the Deutsches Derby was seen at Cologne on Tuesday, when Stall Ullmann´s homebred Savoir Vivre (Adlerflug) made an impressive debut over eleven furlongs, despite being slowly away. He made up the lost ground very smoothly and quickly went clear in the final stages to score by more than six lengths. It is not clear what he beat there, but he could hardly have won more impressively. He comes from one of the best families in the German stud book and is closely related to international champion Stacelita. Trainer Jean-Pierre Carvalho will now aim him at Cologne´s Union-Rennen, traditionally the best trial for the German Derby.
Classic trials remain in the spotlight this weekend. Almost all the ten fillies declared for Saturday´s listed race at Düsseldorf are in the German 1,000 Guineas over the same course and distance on June 5th, and many of them are also entered for the Preis der Diana. Klug has two runners here, but so do his two main rivals for the trainers´ championship, Peter Schiergen and Andreas Wöhler.
Main event on Sunday is the Group Three Bavarian Classic over ten furlongs at Munich, second only to the above-mentioned Union-Rennen as a Derby trial. This looks wide open with almost of the eight runners already having shown ability of the required level. Top-rated is Isfahan (Lord of England), who won last year´s Preis des Winterfavoriten but has not been out since; he was bred by Andreas Wöhler, who also trains him for local owner Darius Racing. Capricorn Stud´s homebred Berghain (Medicean), already a very easy winner this season, could be his toughest opponent; he should certainly stay the Derby distance, as he is a half-brother to top staying hurdler and Cesarewitch winner Big Easy,

David Conolly-Smith