BADEN-BADEN, Germany – There is a lot to race and breed in Germany to celebrate since the coveted first sale 12 months ago. That same weekend, Torquator Tasso (Ger), a 2018 sale graduate, landed the Grosser Preis von Baden just across the street from the auction house before continuing his memorable win at Prix ​​de l’Arc de Triomphe. A reminder, if necessary, that German blood can combine it with the best blood in the world, as recently demonstrated by GI Beverley D S. eatrix Dalika (Ger) (Pastorius {Ger}).

Baden-Baden’s ‘Grosse Woche’, which includes four days of racing action in Iffezheim, is in full swing again and culminates on Sunday with a repeat appearance of Torquator Tasso in the grand prix of the meeting, in there he will take part in this year’s German Derby winner Sammarco (Ire) (Camelot {GB}). This week is going well for Paul Vandeberg, who has bred not only Torquator Tasso but also his half-brother Tünnes (Ger) (Guiliani {Ger}), the Derby favorite in 2022. of Germany, who missed the start of the Classic season due to injury. but returned to form with his easy win in the Preis der BBAG Auktionsrennen on Wednesday afternoon.

Vandeberg has decided to keep the Arc winner’s longing brother, a pony made a little more precious following the grieving death of the male Adlerflug (Ger) in April 2021, but the breeder This year’s Derby winner Helmut von Finck touted his half-brother to Sammarco on Friday. The pony of the veteran of the German steed, Areion (Ger), features like lot 157. His dam was Saloon Sold (Ger), by von Finck’s hugely successful warhorse Soldier Hollow (GB), which won second and third and earned the blacklist before beat bullseye in creating a Classic winner as her first pony. Sammarco has also gone on to win the G1 Grosser Dallmayr-Preis more than ten times against his elders since his Derby win.

“Winning the Derby against Sammarco is very special,” von Finck said at BBAG on Wednesday. “The auction company wanted his brother here but he is a late pony, born in May, and Areion is not such a commercial horse so we do not expect a price great. If we can’t sell him, we’ll keep him to race. We’ll see how the market goes. Sammarco came here two years ago and people thought he was small but he’s not too small to win the Derby.”

Gestut Park Wiedingen’s manuscript of four hybrids also includes lot 39, a pony of Sea The Moon (Ger), grandson of von Finck’s Preis der Diana (German Oaks) winner Flamingo Road (Ger) (Acatenango {Ger}), as well as the first foal to enter 2 year old enemy Whispering Angel (Ger) (Hollow Soldier {GB}). The film is by the late Mastercraftsman (Ire) and is cataloged lot 70.

“We have four very good horses,” continued von Finck. “A Sea The Moon from one of my favorite families on Flamingo Road, then we have a ghostly Soldier Hollow from Elvira (Ger) who comes from a very nice Rottgen family, and of course the good ones. Soldier Hollow food is very interesting at the moment. “

He added, “I would like to think about involving partners or an organization in the future but no one has talked to me about this project yet. That might be the way we’re going. I love my horses and I stand behind them.”

With Sammarco aiming for a third straight win in Group 1 on Sunday at Grosser Preis, von Finck said he remains calm despite the big occasion.

“Obviously things have to go well but he’s in good form and he has to run, that’s what he was bred to do,” he said. “Of course Torquator Tasso will be hard to beat but I would be happy with second or third place.”

Von Finck is also the breeder of Group 3 winner and Derby runner-up Destino (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}), who recently started her student career at Gestut Westerberg and has her first tunics for sale this year. His duo in the BBAG catalog are both consigned by Peter and Aline Rodde’s Gestut Westerberg, a pair of sporting ponies that will sell at the end of each sale as lots twelfth and 213.

Peter Rodde, overseeing his draft as early viewers began work, revealed that Destino, 22-year-old Soldier Hollow’s only son at the German school, sheltered 27 mares in the case. his first.

Another first-season stallion very affiliated with Germany but with connections in England and Ireland is the Waldgeist (GB), Ballylinch Stud resident, who is well represented at BBAG, especially in the manuscripts of co-breeders Gestut Ammerland and Gestut Fahrhof, the latter under former ownership of the Jacobs family of Newsells Park Stud, where the Arc winners were bred.

The nine Waldgeist yearbooks in Baden-Baden include four of the five strong drafts from Ammerland, which recently sold wonderfully at Arqana in Deauville, selling six epochs for a total of €2,375,000. Among its services here, lot 133 is Waldgeist’s half-brother to the aforementioned Dalika, whose Class I attack nearly three weeks ago provided an important late update to the pony. Maybe even more comes from the mare trained by Albert Stall, currently competing in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

A welcome shower came overnight in Baden-Baden, bringing temperatures down to reasonable working levels as dealers from abroad began to flock to the sales area on Wednesday morning. The action stopped for a moment as the race progressed side by side, with an update for lot 151Haras de l’Hotellerie’s filly by Bated’s Breath (GB), provided by her half-sister Noble Heidi (Fr) (Intello {Ger}), who easily won the Coolmore-sponsored Listed Baden-Baden Trophy. Now four years old, the daughter of Orpen mare Noble Pensee (Fr), has been bold black with her name as the winner of the G3 Preis der Winterkonigin at the age of 2.

Germany’s largest commercial breeder, the Gestut Fahrhof, perhaps understandably boasts the most international stud list when it comes to the breeds on offer. Among its 17 drafts was the only pony of Frankel (GB) during the sale, lot 58 is the three-part brother of Potemkin (Ger), winner of the G1 Premio Roma (New Approach {GB}). The Fahrhof shipment also contained Too Darn Hot (GB) and Study Of Man (Ire) first crop fillings, as well as a foal from King (GB) of the Winner of the Sarandia (Ger) List (Dansili {GB}). King did the Fahrhof group quite favorably in providing Rising Star TDN Habana (Ger), who won another easy victory on rain-soft ground in Baden-Baden when the 2-year-old was crowned Group 3 winner in the race horse’s distinctive black and gold silk jersey Wednesday’s feature, Renate und Ulbrecht Woeste Zukunfts-Rennen.

For breeders and shippers at BBAG, it is important to keep an eye on both the racecourse and the sales area during the first day of the show, but for the next two days the focus will be solely on seedling sale this year, with the sale starting at 10 a.m. Friday. We’ve seen some exciting deals at BBAG in recent years, including a record €820,000 top shipment in 2019, equaling 12 months later even during the pandemic. It seems reasonable to expect another strong session on Friday, especially while German crosses continue to advertise the strength of the brand worldwide.