The first title came in 2000, the year Samum (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}) won the G1 Deutsches Derby and set the ball rolling for what has become the stud's signature family. Samum's dam Sacarina (GB) (Old Vic {GB}) went on to produce, from repeat matings to Monsun, the G1 Preis der Diana winner Salve Regina (Ger), whose Classic success for Manfred and Edith Hellwig of Gestut Hony-Hof gave the Faust family of Karlshof the champion breeder title for a second time in 2002, and later another Deutsches Derby winner in Schiaparelli (Ger).

“We've been champion breeder in 2000, 2002, and 2008, then there was a gap of 15 years but we have the fourth one,” says Holger Faust, whose parents Bruno and Michaela founded Gestut Karlshof. “It was established in 1990, so it's not that old.”

He continues, “My parents are both from Frankfurt and, back in the day, the racetrack in Frankfurt, which is closed now, was quite popular with 20 to 30 meetings a year. That was how my father became involved with racing, and my mother was already from a family of breeders.”

The Classic lineage extends back through Michaela Faust's parents, who owned the 1980 Deutsches Derby winner Navarino (Ger), as well as his Deutsches St Leger-winning sire Madruzzo (Ger). Navarino also won the G2 Union-Rennen, the major Derby trial which was claimed last season by the Karlshof homebred Straight (Ger) (Zarak {Fr}). Later a close third behind Zagrey (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}) in the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden, Straight remains in training for his four-year-old season. He is a fourth-generation descendant of the aforementioned Sacarina through another of her Monsun daughters, Sahel (Ger). Yet another, Sanwa (Ger), is the dam of Sea The Moon (Ger).

“Straight is an exciting horse,” says Faust, who manages not just his family's horses in training but also those of Darius Racing. “He's getting ready for next year's campaign and I think he can be a very interesting horse for the grand prix races, not only in Germany.”

He continues, “I think that we have a pretty good team for next year. From the younger horses, I would mention the unbeaten Maigret, who is now three. He has done nothing wrong so far. He won his listed race like a walk in the park and I think he can improve. He's now heading to the German Guineas first and then we will see how the story continues.”

Maigret (Ger) is an important Classic contender for the stud as he is by the farm's reverse shuttle stallion Counterattack (Aus), a son of Redoute's Choice (Aus). Furthermore, his dam is by its former resident Dabirsim (Fr) and she has already produced the stakes-winning mare Mylady (Ger) (The Grey Gatsby {Ire}), who won a Group 3 in her native country before being transferred to Chad Brown in America and landing the GIII Very One S. at Gulfstream Park in the Karlshof colours. 

“We had two horses in training in America last year,” Faust notes. “There was Mylady, who just ran one time and after that, unfortunately, she got a lung infection. That's why she needed to be retired in the summer. We also had [Italian Group 3 winner] Atomic Blonde (Ger) who was placed three times in graded races and was then sold.”

Mylady is now back among the 33-strong broodmare band at the farm just south of Frankfurt, alongside her dam Minoris (Fr) and also several members of Sacarina's extended family.

“Sacarina got everything started for Karlshof,” Faust acknowledges. “And I think you can also say, looking back over the last 25 years or so, that this was one of the top three families when you consider Samun, Schiaparelli, Salve Regina, Sea the Moon, and so many black-type horses all over the world. Last year's Italian Derby winner, Goldenas, is also from the family. Right now we have four mares from that family and I would say that the most interesting of those mares is called Seductive (Ger) (Henrythenavigator). With her second foal, she already produced last year's Group 2 winner and German Derby favourite, Straight, so I think there's more to come from her.”

When wearing his other hat as manager to Darius Racing, Faust has been involved with two more Derby winners in his home country: Isfahan (Ger) and his son Sisfahan (Fr). Darius's principal Stefan Oschmann, who has been champion owner twice in Germany, also raced the five-time group winner Rubaiyat (Fr) (Areion {Ger}), who, like Isfahan, now stands at Gestut Ohlerweiherhof.

“Besides the stud, there are two things I am really passionate about. One is being Darius Racing's manager. I've done that now for more than 10 years. And I'm very proud that we have had two German Derby winners, and two stallions.

“The second thing is I'm also running HFTB Agency and I love doing that. I'm focused on exporting German racehorses and, if they are successful, it's always nice to follow the horses and to see them run at bigger tracks in front of more people.”

While the Karlshof team campaign plenty of their own horses, Faust also points to the stud's record at the sales. In the last eight years, Karlshof has sold 14 black-type winners, which equates to 13% of the horses sold. These include A Raving Beauty (Ger) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), who won the GI First Lady S. and GI Just A Game S. for Chad Brown, and Group 3 winner Isfahani (Ger) (Isfahan {Ger}), who was runner-up in the G1 Preis der Diana. 

Faust nominates the latter's full-sister Isfand (Ger), trained by Henk Grewe, as a horse to follow in Germany in the coming season. He says, “She hasn't run yet but I do believe that she is a filly that could be entered for the German Oaks with a big chance.”

Karlshof's fellow champions in Germany for 2023 were Peter Schiergen, who won the trainers' title for the eighth time, while Andrash Starke was champion jockey. Liberty Racing, which campaigned Derby winner Fantastic Moon (Ger), took the owners' title. This represented the first time in just over two centuries of racing in Germany that the champion owner was a syndicate. 

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Speaking on Sunday afternoon, his trainer Aidan O'Brien told TDN, “The plan is for him to run in the Arc as long as everything remains well with him up to the supplementary stage. He appears to have come out of Doncaster very well and we don't feel that he is ground-dependent.”

Also heading towards Longchamp next weekend is the 2021 Deutsches Derby winner Sisfahan (Fr) (Isfahan {Ger}) following his late scratching from Sunday's G1 Preis von Europa over ground concerns.

Holger Faust, racing manager for Sisfahan's owner Darius Racing, said, “Due to the fact that the ground in Cologne has received more water in the last few days than was previously expected and is now stated as soft, Sisfahan was withdrawn this morning and is now scheduled to race next Sunday in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. In Paris, as of today, the ground, the track and the expected fast pace of the race should suit him.”

Another Classic winner given a positive update ahead of next Sunday's big race is Juddmonte's Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}), last season's Irish Derby winner, who later finished sixth in the Arc. Successful in this year's Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud before finishing a close second to Hukum (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S., the Ralph Beckett trainee has recently been given a racecourse gallop followed by a trip to the beach.

“Westover went to Salisbury last Friday and to Hayling Island beach this Friday and both exercises went well,” said Beckett.

“It suited him to just take the edge off him ahead of Longchamp and he's shown he can handle any ground between the extremes.”

It is expected to be a largely dry week in Paris, with the long-range forecast showing the possibility of some rain on Saturday morning. 

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Dr. Stefan Oschmann's Racing Manager Holger Faust said in a statement, “Unfortunately we have to announce that Isfahani passed away suddenly and surprisingly today. We requested an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death. It's very sad, she was Dr. Oschmann's favorite horse.”

Bred by Gestut Karlshof, the chestnut filly was purchased by Faust for €36,000 out of the 2019 BBAG Yearling Sale. Sent to trainer Henk Grewe, she ran second-promoted to first-in the G3 Premio Guido Berardelli in Rome last November. Fourth in the G2 Derby Italiano there on May 23, the daughter of Identity ran fifth in Hamburg's G3 Mehl-Mulhens-Trophy on July 4 prior to her German Oaks second. Her final start was a third in the G2 T. von Zastrow Stutenpreis at Baden-Baden on Sept. 4.

“In the Italian Derby she lost an iron and ran hard, coming out of the race with an injury,” Faust added. “Trainer [Henk] Grewe said we will experience the real Isfahani in the Gran Preis Europa [on Sept. 26], that is not granted to her or us now, but we are grateful to have seen her in the Darius Racing colors on the racetrack.”

The third foal of her winning dam, Isfahani is from the same family as top-class gallopers Irian (Ger) (Tertullian), who won the G2 German 2000 Guineas and was placed at the highest level in Hong Kong, France and Singapore, and Group 3 winner and G1 Preis von Europa runner-up Ibicenco (Ger) (Shirocco {Ger}).

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Isafahan (Ger) (Lord Of England {Ger}), bred by his trainer Andreas Wohler, won the G1 Deutsches Derby of 2016, and five years later his first-crop Sisfahan (Fr), also chestnut and bearing the same green and pink colours of Darius Racing, emulated his father by taking the country's most prized race. 

For Dr Stefan Oschmann of Darius Racing, it was the best possible start to his stallion's career, for the same owner also has Isfahan's first group winner and G1 Preis der Diana runner-up Isfahani (Ger). But it was also a wonderful boost for the young husband-and-wife team of Timo Degel and Nastasja Volz-Degel at Gestut Ohlerweierhof, who not only stand the stallion but also broke in and pre-trained Sisfahan and Isfahani for Oschmann.

“For us this was the stuff of dreams,” says Timo Degel as he shows the imposing Isfahan and his stud-mate Tai Chi (Ger) (High Chaparral {Ire}) on a beautiful sunny morning at the stud just a handful of kilometres from the German border with France. Two hours to the south, Nastasja is already at BBAG Yearling Sale at Iffezheim to oversee Ohlerweierhof's draft of 14 youngsters raised both at their own farm and at another major German operation, Gestut Ebbesloh, which is one of their major clients, both for sales consignment and pre-training.

Like his wife, Degel is a former amateur rider, and he has taken to handling the stallions in their care with all the calm and patient assurance of a skilled horseman. In the surrounding 120 hectares of pasture graze mares and foals, while on a distant hillside above the rolling paddocks a small string of fledgling racehorses are put through their paces among the verdant peace and quiet afforded by the farm, which has been in Nastasja's family for generations.

“Some of the people from the village don't even realise we are here,” says Degel of the tucked-away operation. “They come out for a walk and suddenly realise there are horses everywhere.”

It hasn't always been Thoroughbreds on the Volz family farm. After the dairy cattle of Nastasja's grandfather came military and riding horses bred by her father, who later adopted a love of speedier equine genes and bought his first Thoroughbred mare in the 1980s. The farm continued as a private family concern until becoming a proper commercial entity and stallion farm under guidance of the current generation in 2017, the year that coincided with Isfahan's retirement to stud.

“Dr Oschmann bought around 30 mares for his stallion and that's when we stopped milking cows,” explains Degel, whose team broke in around 60 yearlings over the winter. “Both the stallions here are still owned by their racing owners but we look after them like they are our own.”

He continues, “My wife also has a training licence and so for our hobby we race four horses of our own, but our business is really the breeding and the pre-training. We do pre-training for a lot of big studs like Ebbesloh, Karlshof, and all the Darius Racing horses were here, so we had the Derby winner and the Oaks second here. You can see in both those horses a lot of their father–the same top line and good bone. We thought from the 19 by Isafahan we had in pre-training that they wouldn't be horses for the 2-year-old season but actually he had a good first season. From the last five or six years a lot of good horses have been in our hands so we are very proud.”

The sole yearling by Isfahan at the BBAG Sale on Friday has been withdrawn but Tai Chi is represented by four yearlings in the catalogue and had his name in lights recently when his 2-year-old son Arnis Master (Ger) won the valuable BBAG sales race at Cologne. Both Arnis Master and Sisfahan are out of mares by Kendargent (Fr), the latter having been bred by that Deauville-based stallion's owner and leading French breeder Guy Pariente.

Sisfahan's dam Kendalee (Fr) did not present the most promising page to promote her first offspring's merits on the Flat. She was herself a dual winner over hurdles in France, while her dam also won over jumps, as did her smart half-brother, the Grade 1-winning hurdler Beaumec De Houelle (Fr) (Martaline {GB}). Offered by Pariente's Haras de Colleville in Arqana's November Sale, the yearling colt who would become known as Sisfahan was bought by Oschmann's racing manager Holger Faust of HFTB Agency for €16,000.

Faust has an even closer link to Isfahani as she was bred by his parents Bruno and Michaela, the notably good breeders and owners of Gestut Karlshof. Moreover, he selected Isfahan for Darius Racing for €35,000 at the BBAG Yearling Sale of 2014, bringing his tally to two Derby winners bought for Oschmann for just €51,000.

This weekend, during the culmination of Baden-Baden's major racing festival, Isfahani and Sisfahan, both under the care of champion trainer Henk Grewe, will be given the chance to take another step forward from their Classic engagements. On Saturday, Isfahani lines up for the G2 T von Zastrow Stutenpreis, while Isfahan is entered for Sunday's G1 Grosser Preis von Baden.

“It's just perfect at the end of the day that he has had some success,” says Faust of Isfahan, who covered 92 mares in his first year but dropped to around 35 for his third crop, which are now yearlings. That number rose again in 2021 to 62.

“We bought mares for him, put them in foal and put them back in the sale to try to give people a chance, but nobody wanted Isfahan and lots of the mares were sold to go abroad. Not that many of Isfahan's first crop ended up in Germany–only about 22–but Isfahani, Sisfahan and Anoush (Ger) have ended up as really good horses.”

Looking ahead to the weekend, he added, “Sisfahan feels good and looks good and we are quite confident for Sunday, but he is taking on some very good horses. Isfahani has been quite unlucky, which sounds like a strange thing to say about a filly who won a group race in the stewards' room on debut. But when she went back to Italy for the Derby she lost a shoe at the start and was then struck into during the race but she still ran fourth.”

He continued, “In the Preis der Diana we were very happy with her second place. I think she will start favourite on Saturday and she should have a very good chance.

We go step by step. I hope Saturday and Sunday work out for us and then we may send them to England or France, but first we have to do our homework.”

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Faust’s involvement with the G1 Preis von Europa winner, who is catalogued as lot 182, is certainly not a fleeting one. Indeed, the daughter of Teofilo (Ire) was bred by his family’s Gestut Karlshof before he purchased her as a yearling at Baden-Baden for his client Dr. Stefan Oschmann’s Darius Racing.

Donjah is a filly that Faust speaks of fondly, and understandably so, but despite her accolades on the racecourse–an unbeaten 2-year-old season, two group race wins and multiple group race placings – he can’t help thinking that with a little more luck, the best is very much still to come.

“I liked her from the very start, when she was a foal,” says Faust. “She was always special, but I have to say, when you look at her racing career she has been quite unlucky so far. I think that she could be even better than she already is.”

“She was meant to run as a 3-year-old in May as a trial for the German Oaks,” he explains, “but she got lightly injured during a morning canter beforehand, so we needed to put her out for four weeks and start again. She started first time out in the German Oaks and still ran a big race to finish sixth. A riderless horse took her wide outside at the beginning of the straight which hampered her chances. She might have won that race otherwise because she has proven many times that she was by far the best filly from that crop of 3-year-olds.”

Donjah’s 2020 campaign, while hampered by COVID-19 like most others, saw her finally land the Group 1 she deserved in the Preis von Europa at Cologne which was planned to serve as a warm-up for the Breeder’s Cup, as Faust explains.

“This year we focused everything on the Breeder’s Cup and we made the decision at the very last moment whether to run in the Filly & Mare Turf or in the Turf,” he says. “Her preparation was quite good and up until the race we were very excited but, unfortunately she slipped around the second corner and lost her action. You cannot run in one of the biggest races in the world, against the best horses with a faux pas like that. It’s a shame because we think she would have run a good race otherwise.”

Perhaps luck has not always been on her side but there is no getting away from the fact that Donjah is a hugely consistent Group 1-winning filly, who at four years old is still relatively lightly raced. When it comes to her next options, Faust says he believes that the world is her oyster.

“I think she is good enough to run all over the world,” he says. “She could handle the races in the U.S. over a long trip and try the Breeders’ Cup again with a bit more luck. She would also possibly suit Japan. She’s by Teofilo, so if Australians are looking for a potential Cup horse and a good broodmare afterwards she could go down there too.”

Such is the regard for the Darius Racing colourbearer that Faust warns that they would be happy to hold onto her if she doesn’t reach her true value on Saturday.

“The thing is she is not sold yet,” he says. “It depends what happens in the ring. If we don’t get a fair price on her then we will keep her racing next season.”

Faust first met German businessman Dr. Stefan Oschmann in 2012. The following year he began buying yearlings for him and by 2014 Darius Racing was formed. The relatively young operation became Germany’s champion owner in 2016 after winning the German Derby with Isfahan (Ger) and has since ranked consistently among the top five leading German owners. A first foray into breeding by Darius Racing, under the guise of Anahita Stables, produced 2020 Group 1 winner Sunny Queen.

It is safe to say that the relationship between Faust and Dr. Oschmann has been a fruitful one and another interesting lot representing Darius Racing at the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale is the listed-winning daughter of Holy Roman Emperor (Ire), Apadanah (Ger) (lot 132). Plagued by problems in the starting stalls, she is another that Faust says he believes has the potential to be far better than she looks on paper.

“She’s got so much class but she lost her races a couple of times at the start,” Faust says. “When she won her listed race at Dortmund she lost five to 10 lengths at the start. When you look at her performance in the German St Leger she loses 25 lengths at the start and was beaten by five lengths, so you can imagine how much ability she does have. If she was a good starter, I think she is a horse that could run in every Grand Prix race all over Europe.”

“To be honest, she is a very interesting lot from either a racing or a breeding perspective,” continues Faust. “She’s by Holy Roman Emperor and there are a lot of things happening in her family. She has Alson (Ger), Step By Step (Ger) and a Melbourne Cup winner, Almandin (Ger), in the family as well. Apadanah’s Sea The Stars (Ire) half-sister sold for 400,000 guineas as a foal at Tattersalls last year and the mother is a young Alderflug (Ger) mare so there is still plenty to happen too.”

The Faust family’s Gestut Karlshof is also represented by two standout lots to be offered at the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale on Saturday, under the Ecurie Des Monceaux banner. Catalogued as lot 192 is the Classic-placed daughter of Night Of Thunder (Ire) No Limit Credit (Ger), who reminds Faust of another Gestut Karlshof-bred, the dual Grade I winner A Raving Beauty (Ger) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}).

“No Limit Credit is a fantastic racehorse,” he says. “She was the second richest 2-year-old filly of all time in Germany. Despite doing a lot at two her form didn’t decline as a 3-year-old when she was Classic-placed and won a group race. Her lifetime best form was in the Lydia Tesio in her last start where she got stuck on the inside so the jockey had to go the long way round and she was flying at the end. She proved then that she can stay.”

“We thought all along that she could stay,” continues Faust, “but we prepared her for the German Oaks which she ran a poor race in. It turns out she had an infection afterwards, but as it was her first disappointing race we thought she should go back to the mile. We ran her at a mile and the jockey said she needed further but we did the opposite and ran her over seven furlongs on heavy ground where she was an easy winner just because of her class.

“I have a lot of respect for her and I think she is a lot like A Raving Beauty because of her toughness. A Raving Beauty became a star in America as a 5-year-old and I think she can do that next year as a 4-year-old. I definitely see No Limit Credit running in the U.S. because she can do 1700 metres or 2000 metres, smaller tracks, short straights, performs on all ground, everything suits her and I think she could have a great career in the States.”

On the subject of A Raving Beauty, Gestut Karlshof are also offering the dam of the multiple Grade I winner and performer, Anabasis (Ger) (High Chaparral {Ire}) (lot 164), who at 12 years old is already well proven as a broodmare with plenty more potentially still to come.

“There are two reasons for selling her on,” explains Faust. “First of all, we are packed with the family at the stud. We have a sister of hers and daughters, including A Racing Beauty (Ger), full sister to A Raving Beauty who was listed placed this year and remains in training. Secondly, we noticed that for German breeders, it’s hard to get a really good result in the sales ring for the yearlings and the racing prospects and broodmares have been sold for better money in recent times. Maybe because we don’t have the same yearling preparations here or maybe because German breeding is a little more backwards than Irish, English or French. That’s why we said, ‘ok, if we get a fair price on her then we will sell her,’ but obviously she has a reserve price so we shall see what happens.”

Indeed, there will be plenty to keep an eye on for Faust on Saturday as he follows four very exciting lots through the Arqana sales ring and he’ll be hoping that what has already been a good year for HFTB Agency can finish on a high note.

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