From David to Goliath 

ASCOT, UK — By now, the breeding world is wise to the fact that we only realised almost all too late that Adlerflug was a stallion who should have been treated with the utmost respect. The team at Gestut Schlenderhan knew, but then they bred Adlerflug, who died in 2021 just months after he had been crowned Germany's champion sire for the first time and not long after Schlenderhan had celebrated its 150th anniversary. 

Adlerflug has been kind to Francis-Henri Graffard, who trained his son In Swoop, also for the Ullmann family of Schlenderhan, to win the Deutsches Derby and finish second in the Arc. This victory for another son, the largely unheralded Goliath, in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes takes it to another level, however. Nobody who follows international racing can be in any doubt as to the talents of Graffard, especially not the Aga Khan, who installed him at Aiglemont on the retirement of Alain de Royer Dupre. But he has kept on his own stable in tandem and has now produced what could be deemed a pivotal win for Baron Philip von Ullmann in England's summer middle-distance showpiece.

Before Goliath had even returned to the winner's enclosure with his pronounced stringhalt gait, Philip was on the phone to his father Baron Georg von Ullmann, the previous owner of those famous colours which had been carried to glory around Europe and beyond by such illustrious names as Manduro (Ger), Shirocco (Ger), and Getaway (Ger). The dam of the last-named in that trio can be found as the fourth dam of the four-year-old Goliath. Succession matters here, both for horses and humans.

Goliath's status as a gelding, which he shares with Graffard's Juddmonte International challenger Calandagan, will open up another debate for the breeding world. But that is a topic of discussion for another day, for this was a day of international glory which is yearned for at Ascot: a German homebred winner trained by a Frenchman and ridden by a Belgian. Moreover, this was a top-flight win for the next generation of the family which has, almost exclusively since 1869, presided over Schlenderhan, the former home of the great Monsun (Ger) and the oldest stud farm of its kind in Germany.

Philip von Ullmann has just Goliath in training in France with Graffard and a two-year-old with Victoria Head, but he means business when it comes to maintaining his family name in the annals of racing and breeding. 

“I'm the sixth generation involved with the stud,” he said in the aftermath of what was viewed by those outside the camp as a shock win. “I'm hoping I can take it to the seventh, eighth or ninth generation.”

It was two decades ago that Shirocco landed the Deutsches Derby for his father before going on to glory in the following year's Breeders' Cup Turf – the horse's first win with Christophe Soumillon in the saddle. Together they would also go on to win the Coronation Cup.

Ullmann continued, “When we knew that Christophe was going to ride Goliath, I told him, 'Let's do it like 19 years ago in the Breeders' Cup.' But I can't believe it. My god, we always knew he was an amazing horse and for the first time he really got a quick pace. I'm speechless.”

When the power of speech had returned and a giant trophy had been collected from the Queen, he added, “My parents are obviously very, very proud. A homebred horse, and by Adlerflug, who in my opinion was one of the three best stallions of the 21st century, just very underrated, and who left sadly too soon. Goliath showed that even on good to firm ground that he can get a top-class horse.”

Graffard had spoken to TDN earlier in the week about his designs on both the King George and the Juddmonte International but he said in the winner's circle, “When I saw he was 28/1, I thought 'Oh my god, nobody believes in him'.”

He did though, and so did Soumillon, who was literally riding high as he swung into the straight in a canter behind Auguste Rodin, Luxembourg and Rebel's Romance – the winners of 15 Group 1 races between them – whose jockeys were hunched in a hard drive for home. With Soumillon barely shifting until the furlong marker, Goliath sauntered past these weakening rivals as if out for a Sunday stroll. His rider, a little more restrained now than in his days of youthful arrogance, still could not resist a leisurely look over his shoulder as the winning post loomed, as if to say, “Where are you all?”

Where indeed. Only Bluestocking could put up anything close to a challenge as she ran on resolutely from out the back to narrow Goliath's margin of victory to a little over two lengths. 

But that only tells half the story, for this was an absolutely joyous romp for the visitors from the continent. It may not have been what we expected to see, but it was nevertheless a wonder to behold.