“I can’t say I’m not fine because I’ve been a lucky man for the past two years with my hobby of horse breeding. It’s not an ordinary place to stay. “
So Paul Vandeberg, the breeder not only of the reigning Arc hero Torquator Tasso (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}) but also of Tünnes (Ger) (Guiliani {Ire}), who at the age of 2 won it. G3 Prize Herzog von Ratibor-Rennen. The ponies are half-brothers and notably, their dam Tijuana (Ger) (Toylsome {GB}) is the only mare owned by the Dutch breeder.
However, that was not the case with beginner’s luck for Vandeberg. For many years before thoroughbred breeding took hold, he bred Dutch theropods. And once he turned to racehorses, it was not only the breeding that fascinated Vandeberg that he trained for a time at the Duindigt racecourse in The Hague, with the finisher in second place. three in the last Dutch Derby where he came to the main prize- successful race.
He moved one step closer to Classic glory when Torquator Tasso finished second behind In Swoop (Ire) (Adlerflug {Ger}) in the 2020 German Derby, and it wasn’t long before the dark horse Vandeberg was sold with priced at 24,000 euros at the BBAG Yearling Sale is a Group 1 winner in his own right. Torquator Tasso won the Grosser Preis von Berlin later that season, but of course what he achieved the following year brought him to the wider attention of the racing public.
After beating 2021 German Derby winner Sisfahan (Fr) (Isfahan {Ger}) in G1 Grosser Preis von Baden, Torquator Tasso left his hometown for the first time with a famous 80-1 win in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. His breeder, not daring to believe he could win, did not go with him.
“I have a good feeling about him, and I think maybe he could be fifth,” Vandeberg admitted. “But victory? It was a surprise. “
Based in the Netherlands in Hilleshagen, just a few kilometers from the German border, Vandeberg has been active for decades in the Dutch thoroughbred breeder association but has gradually leaned on his breeding preferences in Bergheim, not away from Cologne, when the number of broodstock in his homeland was dwindling.
“Initially, for the first 25 years, I kept only Dutch horses, and then when I started getting into Dutch racing we had a lot of good owners. “Some of them have come to England to train their horses. Then after 20, 25 years, the sport in the Netherlands started going backwards. When I sat on the breeding committee, we had about 250 broodstock. Currently in the Netherlands, there can be five, six [thoroughbred] broodmares. “
Vandeberg continued, “Then I bought a dirty item in Germany. I studied stallions in Germany, and I have long raised stallions in Germany. “
That road is the Gestüt Erftmühle, just two kilometers from the legendary Gestüt Schlenderhan road, which plays an important role in the Torquator Tasso story as the creator of his dam.
Vandeberg recalls: “When I lost my last mare, I asked all over Germany about buying a colt. “Then sometime at the track I saw Gebhard Apelt, the manager of Schlenderhan, and I asked him.
“I accepted Tijuana on one condition: that Schlenderhan be able to get the first mare out of the body. So when Tellez was born, I gave her back, and they were her breeders on paper. “
Tellez (Ger) is a house sister to Tünnes, both of Erftmühle resident and Schlenderhan Group 1 winner Guiliani, whose pedigree combines two of Schlenderhan’s most notable stallions. in the male Tertullian – who is closely related to Urban Sea – and his devil is Monsun (Ger).
Tijuana has only made it to the finish line once since her racing career has not been so smooth but has plenty to encourage a small breeder to take on her. First, she is half-sister to the Tusked Wings (Ger) team, who won Group 2, the child of Adlerflug, Torquator Tasso’s German Derby winner male. Her paternal grandmother is Turbaine, Trempolino’s half-sister to Urban Sea, who is likened to Tertullian’s dam. In sending three Tijuanas to Guiliani and four times to the late Adlerflug during her first seven matings, Vandeberg thus inbreeded with Germany’s most influential family.
Using his local suffix for the horses he has named, Vandeberg currently has Torquator Tasso’s 2-year-old sister Tiara Hilleshage (Ger) training with Marcel Weiss alongside her illustrious older brother. hers. He also wants to keep his longing older brother named Tiamo Hilleshage (Ger). Tellez, now four years old, raced for Schlenderhan, while the first mare, Tibo Hilleshage (Ger), also by Guiliani, broke his leg during practice and never raced.
The 11-year-old mare, which has a pony Guiliani at its feet, has been raised by Gestüt Fahrhof’s newcomer Alson (Ger), son of Areion (Ger), who was also raised by Schlenderhan this season.
This year’s BBAG Yearling Sale takes place on a Friday, and Vandeberg admits there’s been an internal controversy over whether to take advantage of the Arc winner’s success in selling his brother.
He said, “I can take him to Arqana in Deauville. I can take him to Baden-Baden. I talked to a lot of people, and if I used my brain I would decide to sell him, but if I used my heart I said, ‘I don’t want to sell him’. “
While offers will no doubt continue to be made for members of the Tijuana family, Vandeberg in the meantime can continue to enjoy the feats of her children, especially, coming up next. the return of the ‘big two’.
The ‘Grosse Woche’, Baden-Baden’s most prestigious weekend race, will get underway this weekend. Tünnes, a once-favorite at the German Derby, is set to make a long-awaited comeback after a defeat left him out for the first half of the Classic season. The pony coached by Peter Schiergen will run in the BBAG sales race at the track on Wednesday, while Torquator Tasso, with Frankie Dettori signed up to ride for the first time, will attempt to defend his crown in Grosser Preis von Baden next Sunday.
“Torquator Tasso has many fans at the moment because he is the Horse of the Year in Germany in 2020 and ’21. I hope he has a chance for third year to be Horse of the Year,” the righteous proud breeder said.
“It’s amazing what happened to this horse and what happened to me during that time because we’ve been raising horses for over 50 years, and then suddenly we weren’t just warriors. won Group 1 but also one of the best horses in the world. It totally feels like a movie.”
