GaloppWeekly - March 3/25
- Luis Kimmel
- 20. März
- 6 Min. Lesezeit
What happened in the racing world last week? GaloppWeekly takes a look back on everything important happening in Germany and around the world!
Horse of the Year
In the run-up to the German horse of the Year-voting, everyone actually agreed that FANTASTIC MOON (Sea The Moon) would secure the title for 2024 as well. In the end, however, the winner was ASSISTENT (Sea The Moon)!
Assistent won the G1 Grosser Allianz Preis von Bayern last year with an impressive final chord as he literally flew home. In a similar way, he has now been voted Galopper des Jahres (Horse of the Year). Assistent moved to Gestüt Röttgen as a stallion in 2025. Last week it was announced that the first mare is in foal by Germany Champion horse.
GaloppDaily congratulates Assistent, owner Eckhard Sauren, trainer Henk Grewe and breeder Gestüt Röttgen!
New plan for STRAIGHT
In February, the Gestüt Karlshof bred and owned Straight (Zarak) finished a good fifth in the G2 Howden Neom Turf Cup in Saudi Arabia. After that, the rumour mill was buzzing: where would the Zarak son go next? First of all, an invitation was received from Dubai for the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic over 2400m. This race now looks like a real cracker, which is why a new plan has been considered. Now it will be the G2 Dubai Gold Cup on the same day.
Holger Faust, Racing Manager of Gestüt Karlshof: ‘We received the invitation last week and have already confirmed it. We don't see him as an extreme stayer, but according to his rating (117) he is ranked third in the field and if he stays the distance, he has the class to win a race like this. We want to take this chance, also because it would be a shame to send Straight into a break so soon. He will get one after Dubai, which is why he has no entries in the spring highlights of the German turf season.’
In the Dubai Gold Cup, Straight could come up against, the Arc fifth SEVENNAH'S KNIGHT (Camelot), the third from the G1 Grossen Preis von Baden 2021, PASSION AND GLORY (Cape Cross) and the G1 St. Leger 2023 winner CONTINUOUS (Heart's Cry).
Düsseldorf under construction
On 23 March, Düsseldorf will be the open the turf season in Germany. A total of eight race days are planned at Düsseldorf for the year. During the first half of the year, extensive modernisation work will be carried out at the same time, in which the club will invest around 350,000 euros. The main aim is to improve the quality of the sporting facilities. Visitors can look forward to a new sound system in the parade ring, which should improve the race day experience. The work should be completed in time for the 20th running of the G1 Henkel-Preis der Diana - German Oaks at Düsseldorf on 3 August.
The renovation work includes, among other things, new drainage and cabling, improved loudspeakers and fresh plantings. Finally, the existing sand surface in the paddock will be replaced by rubber paving stones. These are made entirely from recycled material by the manufacturer ‘IRS Innovative Recycling Solutions’. The old tree population will be preserved.
Another modernisation project concerns the track. In addition to the purchase of a new starting gate, the track will be widened by 2.5 metres over a 480-metre stretch before the finish. Since the ground must first settle and the turf grow back, this section will probably not be usable until the 2026 season. The widening will also enable up to 16 horses to start from the new, wider starting gate. In addition, the club expects the adapted layout to optimise race procedures, especially in races with large starting fields.
This year, the G1 167th Henkel-Preis der Diana - German Oaks will again be part of the international World Pool and can therefore be bet worldwide.
A Derby winner for Peter Schiergen
Peter Schiergen's Asterblüte stable has recently acquired an exciting new addition from Brazil: COLD HEART (Alpha). The five-year-old stallion is owned by Fazenda Mondesir. In his 11 starts, he has recorded six wins and two further placings. His greatest success was his victory in the Brazilian Derby, a Group I race over 2400 metres at Sao Paulo.
Cold Heart's most recent appearance was in the prestigious Carlos Pellegrini, another Group I race over 2400 metres in the Argentinean capital Buenos Aires, where he finished sixth. He then embarked on the long journey to Germany, including quarantine, to now move into a new box in Cologne.
In the long term, it is hoped that the Brazilian Derby winner will also be able to prove himself in the German Grand Prix races.
A new Derby-Meeting
The IDEE Derby Meeting 2025 will be taking place in a slightly different format: from 29th June to 8th July, spectators can look forward to five exciting days of racing with around 50 races. The highlight of the event, the G1 IDEE 156th German Derby, will be held on 6th July.
This year, the €650,000 Derby will take place on the third day of racing – exactly in the middle of the meeting. The Hamburg Racing Club is thus accommodating the wishes of the head jurisdiction Deutscher Galopp, as summer race weekends are in high demand throughout Europe. The opening day on 29 June traditionally remains a family day, with the Sparkasse Holstein Cup, a listed race for fillies over 2200 metres, providing the first sporting highlight.
On 5 July, 24 hours before the big Derby day, two prestigious races are on the programme: the G2 Wettstar.de – Grosser Hansa-Preis and the my-bed-eu – Langer Hamburger (L).
On the last two days, 7 and 8 July, admission to the general admission area is free.
Monday, July 7, will offer a special kind of sporting lunch break with six compact lunch races (11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.). On Tuesday, July 8, the meeting will conclude with a programme of twelve races. Among them: the G3 Grosser Preis von LOTTO Hamburg over 2000 metres.
A "German" horse in Japan?
In February, BYZANTINE DREAM (Epiphaneia) won the G2 Red Sea Turf Handicap at Riyadh with Oisin Murphy in the saddle. The four-year-old is expected to return home to Japan to compete in the G1 Tenno Sho (Spring). Byzantine Dream could almost be considered a ‘German’ horse, as the Epiphaneia son has already been ridden by Bauyrzhan Murzabayev, René Piechulek and Andrasch Starke. One of the three ‘Germans’ was in the saddle in four of his eight starts. As a two-year-old, Byzantine Dream won under Murzabayev on his debut. A little over a year ago, René Piechulek won the G3 Kisaragi Sho at Kyoto with him. In the Japanese 2000 Guineas, Murzabayev was back in the saddle again before Andrasch Starke steered Byzantine Dream to fifth place in the Japanese St. Leger.
Now, Starke is about to jump back into the saddle for the Tenno Sho. The Tenno Sho is one of the most important races in Japan and is held twice a year, once in spring and once in autumn. The race is over 3200 metres and will take place at Kyoto on 4 May 2025.
MR HOLLYWOOD is back
The second from the G1 German Derby and the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden 2023 starts the season on Thursday at Saint-Cloud. For the first time, this will be under the direction of Henri-Alex Pantall.
In 2024, Mr Hollywood (Iquitos) won the BSV Spezialtiefbau GmbH Preis von Dahlwitz (L) against Fantastic Moon in his debut, but did not really get off to a good start afterwards. He placed in the G2 WETTSTAR.de Grosser Hansa Preis and the G3 Fürstenberg-Rennen, but his owners had bigger goals for him. So they decided to send the Iquitos son to France to Henri-Alex Pantall.
In the Prix de la Porte de Madrid, a listed race over 2400 metres, Tony Piccone will be in the saddle of Mr Hollywood. He will be up against the former German-trained SIRJAN (Zarak).
That's it for GaloppWeekly – but it'll be back next week!
Until then, you can take a look at our latest interview. We talked to Oliver Sauer, the managing director of Dortmund racecourse. The conversation covered happy faces, water, social media and wishes.
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