That triumphant breakthrough represented the moment when the Cup became a truly global event, but it had been a major landmark both domestically and internationally since the 19^th century. The respect which the two words 'Melbourne Cup' generated in the Victorian era was shown by the purchase in 1895 of Carbine (NZ), the highlight of whose 33 wins had been when he had won the Cup in 1890, carrying 10 stone 5lb and giving 53lb to the runner-up. By 1895 Carbine had made a promising start to his stud career and his fame was enough to persuade the Duke of Portland to recruit him, at a price of 13,000 guineas, to stand in England alongside reigning champion sire St. Simon (GB) at Welbeck Abbey Stud in Nottinghamshire. He was a great success there, most notably spawning a three-generation sequence of Derby winners, starting with his son Spearmint (GB) in 1906.

The iconic Melbourne Cup | Racingfotos.com

A second Melbourne Cup winner followed hot on Carbine's heels when the 1896 winner Newhaven (Aus) headed north after that season's Sydney Autumn Carnival. His part-owner Mr Cooper had bought a seat on the London Stock Exchange so he arranged that Newhaven would come to England with him. 

The highlight of Newhaven's career in England came when he won the City And Suburban H. at Epsom in 1899, reportedly winning connections £50,000 in bets.  Unfortunately, though, he could not follow Carbine into the ranks of British-based stallions as he was not accepted into the (British) General Stud Book because of doubts supposedly held about the identity of his fourth dam.  Consequently, he had to return to Australia to begin his stud career.

Remarkably, Newhaven was not the greatest Australian horse racing in England during the final years of the 19^th century. That honour was held by Merman (Aus). Having ended the Spring Carnival in Melbourne in 1896 by winning the Williamstown Cup, Merman was brought to England, where he was bought by the famous actress Lillie Langtry for 1,600 guineas.

Merman became a remarkable trouper in his adopted homeland, ensuring that Australian stayers would be revered worldwide for decades. The highlight of his three wins in his first season in England, 1897, came when he won the Cesarewitch H. at Newmarket. At the same meeting the following season he won the Jockey Club Cup, having run well in the Cambridgeshire H. the previous day and in the Cesarewitch H. the day before that. His toughness and class were also in evidence at Glorious Goodwood the following summer, when he won both the Goodwood Plate and the Goodwood Cup. Age and exertion did not weary him because it turned out that he was saving the best 'til last: in 1900, aged eight, he won the greatest staying prize of them all, the Gold Cup at Ascot.

One race which particularly illustrated the strength in depth of Australian horses racing in England at the time was the Epsom Gold Cup (now G1 Coronation Cup) at the Derby Meeting in 1898 when Merman was one of three antipodean imports in the field, alongside Newhaven and the 1896 VRC Newmarket H. winner Maluma (Aus). Furthermore, when Merman contested the Cambridgeshire that autumn, he finished behind the imported winner Georgic (Aus), previously successful in the AJC All-Aged S. at Randwick in 1895.

Two-Way Traffic for Top Stayers

Red Cadeaux, with Robin Trevor Jones and rider Steven Nicholson, was second in three Cups | Emma Berry

It was not all one-way traffic, of course. The Australian Stud Book was built on imports, with such horses differentiated from the colonial-breds by an asterisk printed alongside their names. It was the norm for the Melbourne Cup to be won by a horse with at least one imported parent, but the first winner of the race bred in Europe was Comedy King (GB) (Persimmon {GB}), successful in 1910.

Leading Melbourne-based bookmaker Sol Green had gone to England on holiday in 1906 and bought some horses there. One was the Gallinule mare Tragedy Queen (GB), purchased from the Royal Studs, in foal Persimmon. Green left the mare in England but once the resultant foal, Comedy King, had been weaned he was exported to Australia (forging a path subsequently trodden by the Somerset-born three-time Melbourne Cup heroine Makybe Diva).

Just as Comedy King took Makybe Diva's route to Melbourne Cup glory nearly a century before the great mare won her three Cups, so did the 1924 winner Backwood (GB) foreshadow the legion of Australian owners, trainers and agents who nowadays shop at Tattersalls with future Melbourne Cups in mind. A dual winner at a mile and a half in England, Backwood was bought by Australian owners E. L. Baillieu and W. Clark for 2,500 guineas in the hope that he would win the Cup in 1923. He disappointed badly that year won 12 months later, trained at Flemington by Richard Bradfield.

Hopes were high during the war that the Royal Studs would yield another Melbourne Cup winner, following Comedy King. After three unplaced runs in England for King George VI, the Hyperion horse Helios (GB) was sold to race in Australia. He was shaping up nicely until misadventure struck: he injured himself by over-reaching when pulling up from a track gallop at Flemington, fracturing his near-fore pastern, and had to be retired. The story had a happy ending though, as he became champion sire in 1948/'49 and overall sired the winners of over 1,000 races, with one of his best sons being the 1954 Melbourne Cup winner Wodalla (Aus).

The Melbourne Cup naturally began to feature on the international radar more and more as time passed. By the 1980s, improved air-travel and improved communications were making the world a smaller place.

Sangster Backs the Cup

Robert Sangster's love for Australia meant that the Melbourne Cup came to join the Derby on his list of most coveted prizes. One of the first horses transferred by him from England to Colin Hayes in South Australia was Beldale Ball, whom he had bought out of Michael Jarvis's Newmarket stable in 1979. Beldale Ball thrived under Hayes's care to the extent that he recorded a glorious triumph in the Melbourne Cup in 1980.

Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum too began to focus on Australian racing, the flames of his enthusiasm fanned by the passion of his manager Angus Gold. At Talaq (Roberto) had carried the Shadwell silks into fourth place in the Derby in 1984 at 250/1 when trained in Newmarket by Harry Thomson Jones; two years later, prepared by Colin Hayes, he won the Melbourne Cup.  (The same team would win a second Melbourne Cup in 1994 with Jeune (GB), a Royal Ascot winner bought out of Geoff Wragg's stable specifically to try to win the great race).

Within Australia, Lloyd Williams's Melbourne Cup ambitions were continuing to grow. Prominent in the syndicates which raced the Tommy Smith-trained 1981 Cup winner Just A Dash (Aus) and the John Meagher-trained 1985 Cup winner What A Nuisance (NZ), Williams learned the lessons provided by Beldale Ball and At Talaq. Another horse who caught his attention was Natski (Ire), a maiden race winner at Redcar for Luca Cumani in 1987 who, sold to Australia, was trained by Jack Denham to fail by only inches behind Empire Rose (NZ) in the Melbourne Cup the following year. Also in the field that day was Authaal (Ire), trained by Colin Hayes for Sheikh Mohammed. The son of Shergar had previously won the G1 Irish St Leger in 1986 when trained by David O'Brien.

Williams sent John Meagher, accompanied by Pat Carey, to England to find some suitable prospects and they nearly hit the jackpot straightaway when they selected the Aga Khan's Naiyrizi (Ire), bought out of Luca Cumani's stable after winning at Ascot, Windsor and Doncaster in 1988. During the Melbourne Spring Carnival in 1989 Nayrizi won the VATC Herbert Power H. before finishing a close second to Cole Diesel (Aus) in the VATC Caulfield Cup a week later. Williams has, of course, bought many European horses since then and during the current century has won four Cups with European-bred horses, trained either in Australia or Ireland.

Ireland's Breakthrough

The momentum of interest and competition building, it was only a matter of time before European-trained horses began to contest the Cup. The breakthrough of British-trained horses running in Australasia had come in the late '80s when the G1 Tancred S. in Sydney and the G1 Air New Zealand S. in New Zealand were being promoted as international races. England's two most pioneering trainers, John Dunlop and Clive Brittain, rose to the challenge. The Melbourne Cup had to come next, particularly as it was sponsored by Carlton & United Brewery, which had recently broken into the European market in a major way with the booming worldwide popularity of Foster's Lager. That is exactly what came to pass thirty years ago, on the first Tuesday of November 1993.

Two European trainers each sent a horse to Flemington in 1993. From England, Lord Huntingdon (who had trained at Warwick Farm in Sydney for a couple of years in the late '70s) sent the Ascot Gold Cup winner Drum Taps, the mount of Frankie Dettori. From Ireland, Dermot Weld sent the previous year's Cesarewitch H. winner Vintage Crop, ridden by Mick Kinane. This bold challenge was meat and drink for Weld, who had already become the first European trainer to saddle the winner of a US Triple Crown race (Go And Go (Ire) in the 1990 Belmont S.) and the first to win a race at the Hong Kong International Meeting (Additional Risk (Ire) in the 1991 HK Bowl).

Drum Taps, ridden by Frankie Dettori, found it hard under top weight of 58.5kg, finishing ninth. But Vintage Crop, carrying 3kg less and feeling at home in the rain which lashed Flemington that afternoon, was sublime. Bearing the colours of Dr Michael Smurfit, Vintage Crop came home three lengths in front of Te Akau Nick (NZ), who had recently become the first Group 1 winner trained by Gai Waterhouse by winning the G1 AJC Metropolitan H. at Randwick. As Mick Kinane brought Vintage Crop back to scale, an emotional Weld delighted the local press corps by reciting lines from A. B. 'Banjo' Paterson's 'A Bush Christening' in the winner's enclosure. It was a very special way for the international racing landscape to be changed forever.

European Success Grows

Protectionist, the sole German-trained winner of the Melbourne Cup | Emma Berry

Since then, raiders from Europe for the Melbourne Cup have become the norm. The first leg of Melbourne's 'Cups Double' has also become a regular target, with Europe's breakthrough in that race coming in 1998 when Ray Cochrane brought the Lady Herries-trained Taufan's Melody (Ire) home in front.

Weld and Dr Smurfit won the Melbourne Cup again in 2002 with Media Puzzle. Since then, four other countries have claimed the prize. Japan won it in 2006 with the Katsuhiko Sumii-trained Delta Blues (Jpn). Alain de Royer-Dupre and Mikel Delzangles won it for France in 2010 and '11, courtesy of Americain and Dunaden (Fr). German trainer Andreas Wohler supplied the hero in 2014, Protectionist (Ger). Godolphin won in 2018 with Cross Counter (GB), trained in England by Charlie Appleby. Furthermore, Weld's feat of supplying two winners has been matched by his compatriot Joseph O'Brien, courtesy of Rekindling (Ire) and Twilight Payment (Ire) in 2017 and 2020 respectively, both horses owned by Lloyd Williams..

Any overview of European achievers in the Melbourne Cup wouldn't be complete without mentioning Luca Cumani in dispatches, thanks to a run of narrow defeats, none closer than the pixel or two by which Bauer (GB) was edged out by the Bart Cummings-trained Viewed (Aus) in 2008. Another Newmarket-based trainer to have played a chief supporting role has been Ed Dunlop, whose ultra-genuine charge Red Cadeaux (GB) wrote his name into Cup history as the only horse to finish second in the race three times (in 2011, '13 and '14).

Nowadays, Australian owners and trainers seem intent on buying nearly all of the most likely European Cup prospects. Many were in action at Tattersalls last week and the recent domination of major Australian staying races by European-breds does not seem likely to end any time soon.

The internationalisation of the Melbourne Cup has been a gradual process with many heroes playing their part. Comedy King and Backwood both made special contributions, but none stand taller than Vintage Crop, Dermot Weld, Mick Kinane and Dr Smurfit. The significance of their breakthrough triumph 30 years ago will live forever as the day on which 'the race which stops a nation' became a race which the world watches.

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“To finish first and second is a dream result,” trainer Waldemar Hickst to GaloppOnline. “I actually had more of a gut feeling for India because she had improved from race to race, but it was a great ride from Olivier Peslier and I'm extremely satisfied. I was concerned about the distance and the [good-to-] soft ground, but she had no problems with it. Amazing Grace could now head to Canada for the [GI] E. P. Taylor S., while India has an entry for a Group race in Paris on Arc Day.” The winning owner's racing manager Ronald Rauscher added, “We hoped Amazing Grace would be competitive, but the pace wasn't excessively high. She won very convincingly and we now have the E. P. Taylor S. in the back of our minds. Another possibility is the [G1] Preis von Europa in Cologne.”

Pedigree Notes

Amazing Grace is one of two black-type and two group winners for her G1 Melbourne Cup-winning sire. Out of a German listed winning-daughter of Danehill Dancer (Ire), Amazing Grace is one of two winners from three to race for her dam. Amabelle has the unraced juvenile full-brother to the winner in Astaire (Ire), a yearling filly by Gleneagles (Ire) and a foal of this year, once again by Protectionist.

Antonym (Bahri), the second dam of Amazing Grace, also struck at listed level in Germany, while she, in turn, is out of the dual French Group 2 winner Annaba (Ire) (In The Wings {GB}). This is the extended family of G3 Park Hill S. heroine Anna Of Saxony (GB) (Ela-Mana-Mou {Ire}), as well as of Accessories (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}), the dam of a quartet of group winners led by Group 1 winners and sires Epaulette (Aus) (Commands {Aus}) and Helmet (Aus) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}).

Saturday, Baden-Baden, Germany
T VON ZASTROW STUTENPREIS-G2, €70,000, Baden-Baden, 9-3, 3yo/up, f/m, 12fT, 2:36.11, g/s.
1–AMAZING GRACE (GER), 131, f, 4, by Protectionist (Ger)
1st Dam: Amabelle (Ger), by Danehill Dancer (Ire)
2nd Dam: Antonym, by Bahri
3rd Dam: Annaba (Ire), by In The Wings (GB)
O/B-Dr Christoph Berglar (GER); T-Waldemar Hickst; J-Olivier Peslier. €40,000. Lifetime Record: MGSP-Fr & GSP-Ity, 14-4-4-4, €196,400. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–India (Ger), 131, f, 4, Adlerflug (Ger)–Ivory Coast (Fr), by Peintre Celebre. O-Gestut Ittlingen; B-Gestut Hof Ittlingen (GER); T-Waldemar Hickst. €15,500.
3–Atomic Blonde (Ger), 123, f, 3, The Grey Gatsby (Ire)–Alwina (Ger), by Areion (Ger). (€75,000 RNA Ylg '19 BBAGO). O/B-Gestut Karlshof (GER); T-Henk Grewe. €8,000.
Margins: 1HF, 3/4, 2. Odds: 2.50, 1.60, 13.30.
Also Ran: Narmada (Ger), Well Disposed (Ire), Nachtrose (Ire). Scratched: Salve Le Meer (Ger). Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

Amazing Grace 4yo f, Protectionist @Sternkoenig – Amabelle (Danehill Dancer) won the Gr.2 T. von Zastrow Stutenpreis over 2400m at Iffezheim, Baden-Baden

Bred&owned by Dr. Christoph Berglar
Trained by Waldemar Hickst
Ridden by O. Peslier@Austbloodstock @Ausbloodstock pic.twitter.com/nQdI0Hs7VT

— Ernur İnanç (@ErnurInanc) September 3, 2022

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Plenty has been written about Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) and Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) and the fact that both sides of their families are very much ingrained in the Bolger breeding and training academy. What is equally admirable, especially in the case of Mac Swiney, is the fact that they are being rigorously campaigned. The trainer has already confirmed that the Irish 2000 Guineas winner is now on course for Epsom in an attempt to emulate both his sire and grandsire in the race that many people still consider to be the greatest of them all. Surprisingly, the master breeder Jim Bolger is not one of them.

Following Poetic Flare's triumph at Newmarket, Bolger declared that he believed the 2000 Guineas to be the most important race. That said, he surely will not mind if Mac Swiney delivers a second Derby victory for him, 13 years after New Approach became the first of six Derby winners for Galileo.

It is worth rewatching Galileo's own Derby triumph 20 years ago to be reminded how the relatively small horse with the massive stride skated round Tattenham Corner and scooted clear in the straight. 

In an interview with TDN earlier this year, Aidan O'Brien reflected on the racing days of Europe's multiple champion sire, who gave him his first Derby victory, recalling how those connected with Galileo at Coolmore had a high opinion of him even as a yearling.

“He didn't walk, he prowled, ” O'Brien said. “His walking stride was so long and there was so much power from his front and back, so I suppose the lads had him as a king before he came here.”

He has more than justified that belief, both on the racecourse and at stud, and Galileo has in no small way played a significant part in the training careers of both Bolger and his protege O'Brien.

The latter has eight of the remaining Derby entries, Bolger has just one, Mac Swiney, the horse who could become the first Derby winner to be inbred to Galileo, through Bolger's two champion juveniles New Approach and Teofilo (Ire). Furthermore, as breeder, Bolger has another roll of the dice via the Mark Johnston-trained Gear Up (Ire), a son of Teofilo. 

For all his success, which includes wins in the G2 Beresford S., G1 Vertem Futurity and now the Irish 2000 Guineas, the mud-loving Mac Swiney has never started favourite and remains perhaps under-rated. Following the coldest, wettest English May in living memory, it would be folly to overlook the neat, tenacious colt at Epsom on the first Saturday of June. Destiny calls.

Gold For Japan In Rome

Chantilly-based Satoshi Kobayashi has had seven winners in France so far this year but it was in Italy on Sunday that he recorded the biggest success of his career to date. The trainer sent the Teruya Yoshida homebred Tokyo Gold (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) to Capannelle for an easy four-length victory in 138th running of the Derby Italiano, which was downgraded to Group 2 status in 2009.

Tokyo Gold is the first Classic winner for his sire Kendargent, and his third group winner this year after the likeable Skalleti (Fr) and his full-brother Skazino (Fr). The latter claimed his second group victory of the season when winning the G2 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier at ParisLongchamp on Monday.

Now 18, Kendargent is having a fruitful season in France and is numerically the most successful sire with 38 winners as well as the Nicolas Caullery-trained Kennella (Fr), who was third in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches. The Haras de Colleville stallion's reputation is also being enhanced by his son and stablemate Goken (Fr), who was leading first-season sire and leading sire of 2-year-olds in France last year, with 15 winners from just 33 runners, including the group winners Go Athletico (Fr) and Livachope (Fr).

Yoshida, owner of Japan's famous Shadai Farm, has a notably international outlook when it comes to selecting broodmares, and his support extends to to a number of leading French sires, including Le Havre (Ire) who is the sire of the latest foal for Arc winner Dandedream (Ger) (Lomitas {GB}). The 13-year-old mare foaled a filly by the Sumbe stallion last Wednesday in Japan.

Yoshida also bought Le Havre's Classic-winning daughters La Cressonniere (Fr) and Avenir Certain (Fr). The latter has been represented by two winners this season in her two daughters by Deep Impact (Jpn), the G2 Hanshin Himba S winner Dea Ailes (Jpn), and 3-year-old Honneur (Jpn), who are sadly her only offspring as she died after being covered by Deep Impact in 2018. 

La Cressonniere visited Shalaa (Ire) and Golden Horn (GB) in Europe and is now in Japan, where she had a colt last year by Epiphaneia (Jpn) before being covered by his fellow Shadai stallion Lord Kanaloa (Jpn).

Carvalho Has Classic Double In Sight

It has been a successful couple of days for the French-born, German-based trainer Jean-Pierre Carvalho, who won Monday's G2 Mehl-Mulhens-Rennen (German 2000 Guineas) with Mythico (Ger), another promising 3-year-old for the recently deceased Adlerflug (Ger).

On Sunday, Carvalho, a former private trainer at Gestut Schlenderhan, saddled Sea Of Sands (Ger) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) to win the G3 Derby Trial at Hoppegarten for owner/breeder Gestut Hony-Hof, an operation we will be covering in greater detail in Wednesday's TDN. 

Sea Of Sands represents a family which has had an enormous impact on the German Classics over the last two decades. His grandam Salve Regina (Ger) (Monsun Ger) won the G1 Preis der Diana for Hony-Hof's owner Manfred Hellwig and was second in the G1 Deutsches Derby in 2002, two years after her full-brother Samum (Ger) had won the Derby at Hamburg. In 2005, another full-brother Schiaparelli (Ger) followed suit, and three years later Samum's son Kamsin (Ger) won the Derby en route to becoming German champion 3-year-old. The run continued with the 2014 winner, Sea The Moon (Ger), a son of Sea The Stars and the unraced Sanwa (Ger), another full-sibling to Salve Regina. Now a successful sire in his own right at Lanwades Stud, Sea The Moon is thus very similarly bred to Sea Of Sands, who is now co-favourite for this year's Deutsches Derby on July 4.

Second-Crop Sires To Watch

For the current second-crop sires, what happens this year on the racecourse is arguably so much more important than the results from their first 2-year-old runners. 

Mehmas (Ire), who made a frankly staggering start to his stud career last year with a record 56 winners, looks to be making that important transition with his 3-year-olds and is also compiling an international profile. The Tally-Ho Stud resident has so far had only four runners in America but three of them have won, including the treble Grade III victrix and appropriately named Going Global (Ire), who has now won all four of her American starts. 

The G3 One Thousand Guineas Trial winner Keeper Of Time (Ire) has recently been sold to race in America and will surely add to her good record across the Atlantic, as has been the case for Tetragonal (Ire), a first-time-out winner for Hugo Palmer last year who won for Richard Baltas on Saturday at Santa Anita on the same card as Going Global.

One second-crop European sire we've heard much less about is Protectionist (Ger), but that may soon change. For a start, he is the only one in the table who boasts a strike rate of 11% group winners to runners. The final son of Monsun (Ger) at stud in Germany, Protectionist has large shoes to fill but, from only 18 starters this year, he has been represented by two group winners. The first, Lambo (Ger), won the G3 Bavarian Classic on May 1, beating subsequent G2 Derby Trial winner Sea Of Sands, before finishing third in Monday's G2 Prix Hocquart at ParisLongchamp. 

Protectionist also looks to have a genuine contender for the G1 Preis der Diana on Aug. 1 in Amazing Grace (Ger), winner of Sunday's G2 Diana Trial for owner/breeder Dr Christoph Berglar, who also bred her sire. His son Liban, a winner at Cologne in April, also holds a Derby entry. 

The winner of the G1 Melbourne Cup and G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin, Protectionist, in common with most German sires, has covered relatively small books and had 44 foals in his first crop, followed by 36 in 2019. However, he has the advantage of standing at Gestut Rottgen, which has supported him with members of its own powerful broodmare band, including Wellenspiel (Ger) (Sternkoenig {Ger}), the dam of consecutive Deutsches Derby winners Windstoss (Ger) (Shirocco {Ger}) and Weltstar (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}). Furthermore, Protectionist's owners Australian Bloodstock have not only supported him with mares but have also bought his yearlings in Germany, and Lambo now races in their colours.

Two of Protectionist's offspring, a filly from his first and second crops respectively, have already been exported to Australia and it is fair to expect that more will follow. 

In the meantime, Protectionist is very much a stallion to follow with interest in Europe.

Hello Royal Ascot

It seems as if almost every British race meeting has at least one Amo Racing runner these days, and Kia Joorabchian's operation looks set to be well represented at Royal Ascot.

The latest to have advertised strong claims for a trip to the Berkshire course in mid-June was Monday's impressive Wolverhampton winner Hello You (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who trounced her rivals by six and a half lengths in one of the most impressive juvenile performances of the season to date. Trained by Ralph Beckett, she was a €350,000 purchase by Robson Aguiar at last year's Arqana Select Sale from her breeder Serge Boucheron. 

Hello You's win on debut brought up 18 for the season for Amo Racing, which equalled their tally of winners for the whole of 2020. This followed victories on Saturday for Raadobarg (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), who completed a treble at Haydock, and Beautiful Sunshine (GB) (Ardad {Ire}), who struck for the second time at Sandown on Thursday and is likely to return there this week for the listed National S.

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Windstoss (Ger) (Shirocco {Ger}) and his half-brother Weltstar (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}) are the product of nine generations of Röttgen breeding, stretching back to the purchase of one of the stud's first mares, Winnica (Pol), around 1930. Wander back another five generations beyond her and you will find the Hungarian superstar mare Kincsem (Hun).

The brothers' consecutive Classic wins led to champion breeder honours in Germany in 2017 and 2018 for the long-established Cologne farm. In fact, Röttgen is closing in on its century as a Thoroughbred stud, having been founded in 1924 in the grounds of Röttgen Castle by owner Peter Paul Mülhens. Following the death in 1985 of Maria Mehl-Mülhens, the stud has remained in the ownership of the Mehl-Mülhens family trust and is managed by Frank Dorff. The family's name appears in the title of the German 2,000 Guineas, the Mehl-Mülhens Rennen, which is run at its local racecourse of Cologne.

Windstoss and Weltstar revived a Derby heritage for Röttgen which began in 1932 with its first winner of the race, Palastpage (Ger), but had stalled since the 1959 victory of Uomo (Ger). There will undoubtedly be high hopes for three younger half-sisters of the recent Derby winners who have been retained by the stud.

“Wellenspiel's 2-year-old by Dubawi (Ire) has been named Well Disposed and she will go into training with Markus Klug by the end of this month,” says Dorff, who will be able to keep a close eye on the filly's progress at Klug's private training centre within the walls of the extensive grounds at Röttgen. Well Disposed will join her 3-year-old half-sister Wellenpracht (GB), who is from the first crop of resident stallion Protectionist (Ger).

He adds, “Wellenspiel also has a yearling filly by Sea The Stars (Ire). She will not be offered for sale. The plan is to retain her for breeding, hopefully after she has won some Group races.”

Wellenspiel is currently in foal to Soldier Hollow, and is therefore carrying a full-sibling to the second of her Derby winners, but she will be rested this year owing to her late covering date. Röttgen will, however, be breeding from 29 mares in 2021, including five maidens.

Other members of the Rottgen 'W line' include the G3 Preis der Winterkonigin winner and G2 Diana Trial runner-up Well Spoken (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}). The daughter of the champion 2-year-old Well American (Bertrando) is currently in foal to Areion (Ger) and will be covered in France this year by Haras d'Etreham's young stallion Almanzor (Fr).

The Gestut Rottgen-bred Wirko (Ger) (Kingman {GB}) was the most expensive colt sold at the BBAG Yearling Sale of 2019 when bought for €700,000. The Godolphin colour-bearer won on his second start for Charlie Appleby in November and his dam Weltmacht (Ger) (Mount Nelson {GB}) was one of the early foalers at the stud this season, delivering a filly from the first crop of Arc winner Waldgeist (GB). She heads next to Soldier Hollow.

Of wider international acclaim is Röttgen's 'A family', which includes the farm's 1981 G1 Preis der Diana winner Anna Paola (Ger) (Prince Ippi {Ger}). Her descendants have continued to make an impression across the racing world and they include the 1000 Guineas winner Billesdon Brook (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}), Australian-born stallion Helmet (Aus) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), who is now at stud in Germany, as well as the Champion Hurdle winner Annie Power (Ire) (Shirocco {Ger}).

Members of this family remaining within the Röttgen broodmare band include the G2 Diana Trial winner Akribie (Ger), from the first crop of Reliable Man (GB), who will visit Juddmonte's Oasis Dream (GB) in her first season.

Anna Desta (Ger) (Desert Style {Ire}) has already produced last season's listed Derby Trial winner Adrian (Ger) and she will visit that colt's sire Reliable Man again. Her daughter Anna Katharina (Ger), by the late Röttgen homebred stallion Kallisto (Ger), is in foal to Ballylinch Stud's New Bay (GB) and has another visit to Ireland on the cards as she is booked in to Camelot (GB) at Coolmore.

The stud's more precocious 'D family' is represented by the treble listed winner Diatribe (GB) (Tertullian), who descends from the same clan as Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom and is the dam of dual Group 3 winner Degas (Ger) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) and G3 Mehl-Mülhens Trophy runner-up Dina (Ger) (Nathaniel {Ire}). Her 2-year-old filly by Lope de Vega (Ire) is now in training in France with Philippe Decouz for owner and footballer Antoine Griezmann, and this year the mare will visit Too Darn Hot (GB) in Newmarket. The maiden Dapriva (Ger), a daughter of Pivotal (GB), is also bound for Britain and will return to Cheveley Park Stud, were she was conceived, to produce a variant on the successful Galileo-Pivotal cross with a visit to Ulysses (Ire).

For all studs in mainland Europe, there have been extra complications involved this year when it comes to sending mares to British stallions since the UK's departure from the EU.

“Brexit is a big problem for breeders,” Dorff explains. “Most breeders sent their mares before to England before the end of December. I hope by the time the mares have to come back from England, there will be a better working solution for the transport of horses.”

The 18-year-old Kastila (Ger) (Sternkoenig {Ger}) has been a stalwart of the Röttgen ranks with three of her offspring all having been placed at Group 1 level. Of those, Kassiano (Ger) and Kasalla (Ger) are both by Soldier Hollow, and Kaspar (Ger), who was third in last year's Deutsches Derby, is a son of Pivotal (GB). The proven producer will visit Best Solution (Ire), whose first foals are arriving this season in Germany, after she has foaled to the multiple Group-winning sprinter/miler Millowitsch (Ger), one of three sires currently resident in the elaborate Röttgen stallion wing.

Millowitsch, who joined the stallion ranks last season, has a rather unusual stud fee for 2021 of €1,111, which is derived from the fact that the 8-year-old son of the Titus Lives (Fr) stallion Sehrezad (Ire) is named in honour of Cologne comedian Willy Millowitsch. The carnival in the city has the traditional and equally unusual start time of 11.11am on Nov. 11 each year.

While Millowitsch's sireline is relatively obscure, the same cannot be said for his barn mate Protectionist (Ger), who has the somewhat forlorn honour of being the final son of the celebrated Monsun (Ger) in Germany.

“We have big hopes to keep the legacy of Monsun alive,” Dorff says of the Melbourne Cup winner whose victories closer to home include the G1 Grosser Preis Von Berlin. “Monsun's progeny weren't really precocious, and Protectionist's offspring are not really precocious either. It is remarkable that he has had two 2-year-old black-type horses already.”

Still in the ownership of Australian Bloodstock, Protectionist retired to Röttgen in 2017 and his fee has remained at €6,500 throughout that time. The stud's support of its own stallions down the years is evident in the pedigrees outlined above and that remains the case with the current trio.

Dorff continues, “With Well Protected (Ger), who is out of [listed winner] Weichsel (Ger), and Wellenpracht, who is a half-sister to two Derby winners, we have two very nice 3-year-old horses by him in training who we think should be able to win black-type races this year. Protectionist's Australian owners are sending him around 10 mares each year and he receives some very good mares from us each year as well. He is also quite popular in Germany as more or less every big breeder has sent him mares in the last few years. But we have to realise that the number of mares in Germany is dramatically lower than in France, England or Ireland, so the number of his offspring is not comparable with stallions out of these countries.”

This season, Gestüt Röttgen has welcomed back Sven and Carina Hanson's Reliable Man (GB), a Group 1 winner in both France and Australia whose stock have fared similarly well in both hemispheres and include the G1 VRC Oaks winner Miami Bound (NZ) and G1 New Zealand Oaks winner Miss Sentimental (NZ). The 13-year-old, who shuttles to New Zealand's Westbury Stud, started his European career in Germany in 2014 and spent three seasons in France from 2018. As a son of the late Dalakhani (Ire), Reliable Man is one of the few remaining representatives of the Mill Reef line at stud, along with Sir Percy (GB) at Lanwades.

Dorff says, “We are very happy to have Reliable Man back in Germany. He is very well booked by the German breeders because in this country we have only a few proven stallions like him. We also expect some French mares to come as Germany is much closer and easier than going to England these days. For mares from abroad we offer a transport allowance, which reduces his fee.”

He adds, “Reliable Man has around 110 2-year olds from his first year standing in France to run in 2021 and so should have excellent season.”

As a member of the purchasing syndicate, Röttgen also has an interest in the fledgling career of another globetrotter with top-class form in Germany and Australia: Best Solution. A rare middle-distance runner by Kodiac (GB), he won the G1 Caulfield Cup as well as the G1 Grosser Preis Von Baden and G1 Grosser Preis Von Berlin, and he retired last year to stand alongside former German champion sire Soldier Hollow at Gestut Auenquelle.

“He covered the biggest number of mares in Germany last year and he is also very well booked this year. I'm really looking forward to seeing the foals by him that we are waiting for,” Dorff says of the 7-year-old stallion who was sent 71 mares in his debut season.

The fact that Best Solution's book was the largest in the country is a telling indication of the relatively small pool of mares in Germany. Last year, 29 stallions covered 778 mares, and the champion sire Adlerflug (Ger) had a book of just 39, though that is significantly larger this year, with increased interest from France, Britain and Ireland.

Dorff sees reasons for optimism, however, despite the ongoing disruptions of the Covid pandemic. He says, “The numbers of mares covered in 2020 was the same as the year before and I hope that the number of mares covered will stay stable this year as well. German racing is weak and the prize-money, compared to France, is very low. We therefore have a weak inland market for our yearlings. If you are a German breeder, you have to breed with fashionable stallions to be able to sell the yearlings to someone abroad, or you are an owner-breeder who has to pay the training fees. There are few people breeding for the domestic market.”

He adds, “But I have learned that some breeders who haven't had horses for a while have started to have an interest in breeding again. Maybe that's because they couldn't go on holiday this year—who knows? The stock market has also had a record-breaking year, so money is still around. This is a big chance for us.”

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Siyouni, who now commands a fee of €140,000 having started his career at €7,000, is the French champion sire and was second overall in Europe to Galileo (Ire). He had to play second fiddle to Galileo in his home country last year and to an extent that could be put down to what a difference an Arc makes. Galileo sired the 2019 Arc winner Waldgeist (GB), while new Coolmore stallion Sottsass (Fr) enjoyed the biggest day of his career in front of an almost empty ParisLongchamp grandstand in October 2020. He made a huge contribution to Siyouni’s overall progeny earnings of just over €4 million—double that of Le Havre—but the Aga Khan Studs stallion had plenty of other winners, 63 in total in France including nine stakes winners and 17 black-type performers in France, with 27 of the latter throughout Europe.

While Sottsass was the stand-out, Siyouni also sired his second winner of the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, Dream And Do (Fr), who is now in the ownership of Katsumi Yoshida. His reputation farther afield was bolstered by the G1 Dewhurst S. winner St Mark’s Basilica (Ire) and GI EP Taylor S. victrix Etoile (Fr).

The 62 winners for Le Havre were led by a filly trained outside France but by a Frenchman. The G1 Prix de Royallieu and G1 QIPCO British Champion Fillies & Mares S. Winner Wonderful Tonight (Fr) is the stable star for Sussex-based David Menuisier and she was a another feather in the cap of her breeders Sylvain Vidal and Mathieu Alex, who have played a major role in the rejuvenation of the French stallion scene at what was originally known as Haras de la Cauvinière and is now Haras de Montfort et Préaux. Now under the ownership of Nurlan Bizakov, the stud has a further name to grapple with this year in Sumbé, the title which now unites Montfort et Préaux with Bizakov’s original breeding base of Hesmonds Stud in England. 

Le Havre, who was tenth overall in the European table, notched 11 black-type winners in Europe last season included the hugely promising Normandy Bridge (Fr), winner of the G3 Prix Thomas Bryon and runner-up to Van Gogh (American Pharoah) in the G1 Criterium International. A tall colt with plenty of scope, he could be one to put his young trainer Stephanie Nigge firmly on the map in 2021.

Kendargent has been one of the great success stories of the French ranks in recent years. The non-stakes winner who started out at a fee of €1,000, he received significant backing from his passionate owner Guy Pariente, whose Haras de Colleville, near Deauville, has blossomed into a breeding operation of some repute. 

Now 18, Kendargent is in danger of being upstaged by his son Goken (Fr), who was France’s leading first-season sire of 2020, and Kendargent has also featured as the broodmare sire of several stakes winner by his other Colleville companion, Galiway (GB). His fee peaked at €22,000 and is down to €10,000 for 2021. His leading performer from 63 French winners last season was the globe-trotting Skalleti (Fr), who beat Sottsass when winning the Prix Gontaut-Biron, followed that up by winning the G2 Prix Dollar and was then second to Adeyybb (Ire) in the G1 QIPCO British Champion S.

Wootton Bassett has also been a real success story for French breeding, so much so that he was headhunted by Coolmore last year and is about to serve his first season in Ireland at a fee of €100,000, having stood for as little as €4,000 in this third and fourth seasons. The James Fanshawe-trained Audarya (Fr) followed up her G1 Prix Jean Romanet win with a memorable victory at the Breeders’ Cup, while Wooded (Fr) won the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye before being whisked off to stud himself. There were also close calls for Wootton Bassett’s offspring in the French Classics: his daughters Speak Of The Devil (Fr) and Mageva (Fr) were second and third in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches and The Summit (Fr) was runner-up (Ire) in the Poulains.

The winner of that race, Victor Ludorum (Ire), helped his late sire Shamardal to a fifth place in the French sires’ table, his 10 black-type winners including the Aga Khan’s classy Tarnawa (Ire) and Pinatubo (Ire), winner of the G1 Prix Jean Prat.

Rajsaman (Fr) is another to have left France and is now at Ireland’s Longford House Stud but he still sires plenty of winners in his native country, with 60 last year, to put him in sixth place. 

Completing the top ten were Juddmonte’s Kingman (GB), whose outstanding French representative was Persian King (Ire); Haras du Quesnay’s Anodin (Ire), who sired four stakes winners in 2020 including G3 Prix de Fille de l’Air winner Directa (Fr); Dabirsim (Fr) and the now Japanese-based Makfi (GB).

The aforementioned Goken was not only leading first-season sire in France but also the country’s leading sire of 2-year-olds, with his 15 winners putting him three ahead of Siyouni in the juvenile category.

Leading sires in Germany
That Sadler’s Wells is a major influence is hardly newsflash material. His reach in Germany is predominantly through one of his lesser-heralded sons, the late In The Wings (GB), whose best sire son, arguably, was Singspiel (Ire). The German ranks are headed by two of his other sons, Adlerflug (Ger), who is champion for the first time ahead of Soldier Hollow (GB), the title holder in the previous two years as well as in 2016. 

Physically they are chalk and cheese. Adlerflug, a tall, flashy chestnut, is a product of Germany’s oldest stud farm, Gestut Schlenderhan. Meanwhile, the diminutive bay Soldier Hollow, was bred in England by Car Colston Hall Stud and has spent his stud career initially at Gestut Rottgen before moving to Karl-Dieter Ellerbracke’s Gestut Auenquelle in 2012, whence he has been Germany’s busiest and most expensive stallion for a number of years. Incidentally, Soldier Hollow’s owner Helmut von Finck, who has had notable success with his offspring, has commissioned a video to celebrate the stallion’s 20th birthday, which can be found here.

Adlerflug covered 39 mares in 2020 and he really is a stallion who should be taken more seriously outside Germany. For a start, he is bred very similarly to Galileo (Ire): beyond the Sadler’s Wells top line they share a third dam, Anatevka (Ger), with Adlerflug’s grandam Alya (Ger) being a full-sister to Allegretta (GB).

Ranking 20th overall in the European sires’ championship with markedly fewer runners than all the stallions above him, Adlerflug was responsible for the first two home in the G1 Deutsches Derby, Schlenderhan’s In Swoop (Ire), who was subsequently runner-up in the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, and Torquator Tasso (Ger), who went on to win the G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin. A rare runner for him in Britain in 2020 was the William Haggas-trained juvenile Alenquer (Fr), an easy winner on debut at Newbury who followed up with second in the listed Ascendant S. and looks a colt to follow in 2021.

Alenquer is out of a mare by former German champion sire and classy sprinter Areion (Ger), a veteran son of Big Shuffe (Ger) who was third in the table in 2020 and, now 25, has spent the last three seasons at Gestut Etzean.

Among the younger stallions to note is Gestut Ohlerweierhof’s Isfahan (Ger), the leading German-based first-season sire in 2020. Like Adlerflug, he is a former winner of the Deutsches Derby, and from his 10 runners in 2020, five were winners, including Isfahani (Ger), who won the G3 Premio Guido Berardelli on debut in the colours of her sire’s owner Stefan Oschmann of Darius Racing. Isfahan should be expected to make a bigger impression with his first 3-year-olds, and the same can be said for Gestut Rottgen’s Melbourne Cup winner Protectionist (Ger), the lone son of Monsun (Ger) remaining at stud in Germany.

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Reliable Man returns to Roettgen after two years in France. In four years with runners Reliable Man has left 22 stakes winners, headed by the Southern Hemisphere Group 1 winners Miami Bound (NZ) and Miss Sentimental (NZ). His best Northern Hemisphere runners is the G2 Diana Trial scorer Hypnos (Ger).

Melbourne Cup winner Protectionist is the sire of two stakes-placed horses from his first crop of 2-year-olds this year, headed by the G3 Preis der Winterkonigin third and Winterkonigin Trial second Amazing Grace (Ger).

Multiple group winner Millowitsch (Ger) (Sehrezad {Ire}) stands his second season for €1,111.

“We are delighted to welcome back Reliable Man and look forward to seeing his 94 2-year-olds, by far his biggest crop to date, run for him next year,” said Roettgen Manager Frank Dorff. “Protectionist’s first 2-year-olds have shown great promise and should be a different proposition as 3-year-olds. We believe Millowitsch offers breeders both an outcross and a horse who had real speed and was a consistent group performer through three seasons. Roettgen will be supporting all three of our stallions in 2021 with our own mares.”

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