Deutsches Derby

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. ...

This season we appear to have been gifted an above average crop of 3-year-olds, along with some truly exciting older horses who have remained in training. It is as it should be, but things don't always work out that way.  France and England exchanged Group 1 races at the weekend: on Saturday it was a case of veni, vidi, vici for Vadeni (Fr) (Churchill {Ire}), who gave France a first victory in the race since 1960, when it was won by the Percy Carter-trained Javelot (Fr) (Fast Fox {Fr}). The...

France and Germany share the limelight on Sunday, with the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and G1 Deutsches Derby over a mile and a half the twin focus. In the cast assembled for the former event, Gestut Schlenderhan's In Swoop (Ire) (Adlerflug {Ger}) takes prominence a year on from his victory in the latter. After his success in the Hamburg Classic, the Francis-Henri Graffard trainee proved himself on the international stage by finishing runner-up in the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Returning to...

A small private stud in the heart of Germany provided one of the great stories of the 2020 racing season in Europe as the breeder of G1 Prix du Cadran winner Princess Zoe (Ger) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}). The graduates of Gestut Hony-Hof, which lies among remote woodland in the country's Hessen region to the north-east of Frankfurt, are more commonly seen running in the colours of the stud's owner Manfred Hellwig, whose purple-and-white silks are emblazoned with a giant H. Currently they are worn by three colts of this season's...

In Moment of 2020, the staff of TDN Europe reflect on their favourite moments in racing for the year. In 2019, both Gestut Schlenderhan and the Deutsches Derby celebrated 150th anniversaries. Schlenderhan, Germany's oldest Thoroughbred stud farm, has enjoyed much success throughout the world and is the leading owner when it comes to its home Derby. That record was extended this year when In Swoop (Ger) became the 19th winner of the race to be owned and bred by the Von Ullmann family, a result made all the sweeter by...

Stall Wasserfreunde's domestic star Wonderful Moon (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) was eclipsed, but Gestut Schlenderhan's homebred In Swoop (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}) stepped into the spotlight with a battling success in Sunday's G1 Idee 151st Deutsches Derby at Hamburg, with the Francis-Henri Graffard trainee becoming France's first winner of Germany's Blue Riband. Employing patient tactics in rear off the tempo set by habitual frontrunner Kellahen (Ger) (Wiesenpfad {Fr}) for the most part, the 137-10 chance was under stern urging turning for home and kept on relentlessly for continued rousting in...