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The English page - Successful Newmarket raid on Hoppegarten

Alpinista, winner of the Gr. 1 Großer Preis von Berlin. www.galoppfoto.de

Autor: 

David Conolly-Smith

TurfTimes: 

Ausgabe 681 vom Freitag, 13.08.2021

As a result of travel complications resulting first from Brexit and then from the covid-19 pandemic, there were no British-trained runners at all in German races for the first seven months of 2021. However the ice was broken last Sunday at Hoppegarten, where the card, featuring the Group One Grosser Preis von Berlin backed up by three listed races, was arguably the strongest of the season so far in this country, and with well over 8,000 racegoers in attendance it had the best atmosphere as well!

Three Newmarket raiders were at the Berlin track, and not only did they all finish placed, they took a large chunk of the prize-money as well. In the Group One, Sir Mark Prescott´s 4yo filly Alpinista (Frankel) ran out a worthy winner, while Charlie Appleby´s Godolphin runner Walton Street (Cape Cross) finished third; and in the listed Steher-Preis, Sir Mark´s Alerta Roja, also a Kirsten Rausing homebred, was runner-up.  Both Appleby and Prescott have an excellent record in these German Group One races and both know very well which horses to send and how to prepare them. The main difference is that the Godolphin runners are usually flown over on the morning of the race, as was the case here, while Sir Mark sent his pair on the long trip by road (two days there and two days back again, with a stopover in Cologne).

This did not prevent Alpinista from winning in good style, while Walton Street “finished tired” according to his jockey and was possibly feeling the effects of the long break since his last race in Meydan in March. In the race itself, Walton Street set out to make the runnking at a steady pace, while Alpinista was always handy in third of fourth. Torquator Tasso (Adlerflug), the winner of the race in 2020, when it was run in October, and clearly the strongest of the local hopes, was always close up on the inside. The betting suggested that the race was between this trio, and so it proved.

Walton Street was still going well as they swung into the straight, with Torquator Tasso still on the inside and Alpinista, under a strong ride from Luke Morris, starting her challenge on the outside. For a short while Torquator Tasso was trapped – and Morris did his best to keep it like that, while driving Alpinista into a clear lead two furlongs out. Torquator Tasso was clearly inconvenienced, but he was then switched to the outside and finished fast to take second place, but Alpinista had by then flown and she passed the line 2 1/2 lengths in front, with Walton Street keeping on at one pace for third. The stewards took a dim view of Luke Morris´ manoeuver and suspended him for 3 days for reckless riding. Torquator Tasso was undeniably rather unlucky and would certainly have finished much closer, but Alpinista – in the view of this writer- won with quite a bit in hand and would have won in any case.

Alpinista was not only the best horse in the race, but also certainly the best-bred. She is a daughter of Frankel, who is having a fantastic season and is now the obvious heir to his late, great sire Galileo, out of a listed winning mare from Miss Rausing´s best famile, that of foundation mare Alruccaba (Crystal Palace), Alpinista´s fifth dam. German racegoers will certainly remember Alpinista´a grandam Albanova (Alzao), who was sent over by Prescott to contest three German Group Ones in 2004 and won all of them, including this one, run in those days under a different name in Düsseldorf. Albanova´s own sister Alborada twice won the Champion Stakes at Newmarket.

Alpinista´s best performance last year was her second place to Love in the Yprkshire Oaks, and clearly a Group One victory was her main priority for 2021. “That was the aim,” confessed Prescott; “it´s not often that things go according to plan, is it?” One must certainly compliment him on a fine piece of race planning. She could run next in the Preis von Europa, another event won by her granddam in 2004, while the way in which she stayed on strongly on Sunday over Hoppegarten´s stiff track suggests that she could stay further than the classic 2400 metres distance, so that races such as the Prix Royal Oaks could come into calculations.

Torquator Tasso was far from disgraced in second place and confirmed his status and Germany´s besr performer over that distance. He will probably run next in the Grosser Preis von Baden and connections would then like to go for the Prix de l`Arc de Triomphe, althopugh he would need to improve by about ten pounds to have any chance there. However he is clearly a very smart performer and a credit to his young trainer.

The disappointing feature of the race was the feeble performance of the two 3yo´s in the field, both of whom had run well in the German Derby five weeks earlier. This was clear confirmation of ther generally held view that this season´s German 3yo´s are on the whole well below par, certainly as far as the colts are concerned. The filly Palmas, winner of the Preis der Diana, is the obvious exception, but she of course is a member of the so-called weaker sex. A Group Three race in Deauville, also run on Sunday, is further proof.

Prescott and Morris almost brought off a fine Hoppegarten double when their 3yo filly Alerta Roja (Golden Horn) just failed to make all the running in the listed Steher-Rennen; she looked like winning for most of the race but was run out of it close home by the locally-trained Memphis (Jukebox Jury); the latter, a 4yo filly, had earlier in the season finished runner-up in the Group Two Oleander-Rennen here, and must now be regarded as Germany´s best staying filly. Alerto Roja is another Kirsten Rausing homebred and is from the same family as Alpinista; second place in a listed race will certainly do her prospects as a broodmare no harm, and Sir Mark must be very pleased with the results of his expedition to Germany, as is Miss Rausing, who is enjoying her best ever season as an owner and told the press: “all my ships are coming in!”

This weekend´s racing in Germany pales in comparison to the excellent Hoppeghafrten card. The only black type event is a listed race at Düsseldorf on Sunday. There is another international field here with runners from France and Sweden, but they do not look unbeatable, and Gestüt Röttgen´s homebred Diadora (Dansili), just touched off last time in a Group Three at Hamburg, looks the most likely winner.

David Conolly-Smith

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