Adlerflug

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...

The unforgettably named Thore Hammer-Hansen bade farewell to British racing at the end of last season to take up a retainer with leading German owner Eckhard Sauren. On Sunday he will go to post for the G1 Deutsches Derby as the leading rider in the country.  In many respects it was a homecoming for the young jockey, who was born in Cologne and spent some of his formative years in Baden-Baden, where his Danish-born father Lennart was riding and later training. It can also be regarded as a wise move. ...

As we stand braced for five consecutive weekends of Group 1 action in France and Britain, it is a sign of course that the Flat season of 2023 is drawing to a close, albeit with a bang rather than a whimper. As announced in the Racing Post on Sunday, these final skirmishes on the turf will also bring with them the ending of the longest-running family training dynasty in Britain when William Jarvis saddles his final runner after 38 years with a licence. You could say he was born to...

IFFEZHEIM, Germany--From the established Classic sires to the young pretenders, the full range of the stallion scene was on offer at BBAG, with the yearlings in the main underpinned by some long established German dynasties. It was only right that as his last yearlings took to the ring in the country in which he earned a reputation that eventually spread worldwide, Adlerflug (Ger) was on top for one last time when his daughter (lot 52) from a solid Gestut Rottgen family brought the hammer down at €300,000. Eleganz (Ire) she...

Having provided the winners of this year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Prix de Diane, Prix Jacques le Marois, Grand Prix de Paris and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, Frankel (GB), unsurprisingly, has been named the champion sire of France in 2022. He ceded his position as champion in Britain and Ireland to Dubawi (Ire), whom he finished in front of when it comes to overall European earnings. Of the winners of the above named Group 1 races--Alpinista (GB), Nashwa (GB), Inspiral (GB) and Onesto (Ire)--all bar Alpinista remain in training...

David Futter's Yorton Stud has announced the arrival of Ito (Ger), a Group 1-winning son of the late German champion sire Adlerflug (Ger) and full-brother to German Derby winner In Swoop (Ire). Bred by Gestut Schlenderhan, Ito was himself the champion older horse in Germany in 2015, the year in which he won the G1 Grosser Preis von Bayern. His dam is also a Classic winner, the Preis der Diana victrix Iota (Ger) (Tiger Hill {Ire}). "We are very excited to have acquired Ito, whose profile speaks for itself," said...

DEAUVILLE, France--He could certainly be considered one who got away. The prowess of Adlerflug (Ger) was only really fully appreciated in the last few years of his life, which was sadly all too short. The son of In The Wings (GB) was of course responsible for last year's Arc winner Torquator Tasso (Ger) but that major triumph came six months after his death at Gestut Schlenderhan at the age of just 17. With two yearlings catalogued this week at Arqana, the only one of those in Part II of the...

BADEN-BADEN, Germany--In a special year for German racing as the country celebrates the sport's 200th anniversary, what better way to bring the curtain down on Baden-Baden's Grosse Woche than by having dual German Horse of the Year Torquator Tasso (Ger) return to defend his crown in Sunday's G1 Grosser Preis von Baden? Before that, however, there is the not insignificant matter of around 200 of the country's best yearlings coming under the hammer on Friday in a catalogue that a number of potential buyers around the BBAG sales ground on...

Few people will go through life fortunate enough to say they have had anything to do with a Group 1 winner--fewer still with one who cost just €18,000 as a foal. But back in 2018, when not many were in a hurry to get behind the little-known Adlerflug (Fr) (In The Wings {GB}), one of the ill-fated sire's most talented sons went through the ring at Arqana for that paltry sum. It was Gerry Burke's eye and pocket who saw something in Alenquer (Ger) long before the horse confirmed himself...

Marcel Weiss, trainer of the reigning Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Torquator Tasso (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}), has provided an upbeat bulletin on the 5-year-old ahead of his eagerly-anticipated return to action at Baden-Baden on Sunday.  Torquator Tasso shocked the racing world by becoming the longest-priced winner in Arc history when returning a 72-1 chance in a race where he had Dermot Weld's globetrotting mare Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) and Irish Derby hero Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in behind.  The poster boy of German racing will return in the...

The opening day of the 60th Goffs UK Spring Sale at Doncaster with saw a Ballincurrig House Stud-consigned son of Adlerflug (Ger) establish a new British record for a store sale with a top price of £200,000. Achieved on the occasion of the sale's diamond anniversary, Monday'ss top lot surpassed the previous record that has stood for 20 years. The Adlerflug gelding (Lot 38) attracted an opening bid of £80,000 and subsequent salvos from around the ring before being knocked down to Henrietta Knight. The new British record surpassed the...

It wouldn't be Craven week without a brisk wind blasting across Newmarket Heath, but for those of you considering spending afternoons paddock-side perusing the physical merits of some of this year's Classic contenders, the encouraging news is that the temperature is rising in East Anglia this week, along with the quality of action on the turf. France and Ireland are ahead of Britain on the Classic trials front, and there is plenty to reflect upon in that regard, but a brief look ahead to the Newmarket and Newbury trials this...