WILKOMMEN BACK AND HAVE YOUR MAXIMUM ON TWO TOP FILLIES: It’s a very big Wilkommen to the return of racing in Europe today with an eight-race card of 160 runners at Hannover, the capital of Lower Saxony. Daqman sets the scene with a background to famous German horses, plus the top trainers and jockeys, and selections for four races, including two maximum bets.
THE DREAM IS ALIVE: ‘COME ON MY SUN’: Story of great German horses.
DUAL GERMAN ACE 1,000 TIMES OVER: Master jockey and master trainer.
JOCKEYS ONE SHORT OF THE MAXIMUM: Tips for today’s Hanover meeting.
DURANCE TO LAND SUPERNAP DOUBLE: Maximum stakes on two fillies
THE DREAM IS ALIVE: ‘COME ON MY SUN’
Sieg Heil! The Germans have beaten the rest of Europe back to the racecourse today. Sieg Heil literally means ‘for the win’ as opposed to the sporting Irish ‘for the craic’.
Statements which typify the culture of each country but, while the German dream is alive again today, Ireland is held in the grip of the clampdown, amid fears that the sport there – arguably home of the greatest racehorses of modern times – will be severely damaged if a reported June 29 sports resumption is the reality for racing.
Germany is unlikely to have a contender in Europe this year but at least it has some action and the lifeblood is flowing back through the veins of the industry.
It’s 10 years since Peter Schiergen’s mare Danedream won the Arc and the following year franked her form with an on-the-nod defeat of Nathaniel in an unforgettable King George.
Danedream (main pic) won a total of 3,766,403 euros, top German earner on the racetrack but, off the course, Monsun has been their busy boy, even more productive!
Monsun, who died in 2012, would not live to see his sons cap an exceptional career for him at stud as sire of two Melbourne Cup winners in three years, Protectionist (Ryan Moore for Andreas Wohler in 2014) and Almandin in 2016.
In England, he flaunted his stamina at Royal Ascot when another son, Estimate (Sir Michael Stoute, trainer, and Ryan Moore again the jockey) won both Queens Vase and Ascot Gold Cup.
With Estimate’s victory in 2013, Her Majesty The Queen became the first reigning English monarch to land the Gold Cup.
Racing still goes on in Australian despite the pandemic and The Queen yesterday told prime-minister Scott Morrison – calling him to discuss the latest situation – that she was pleased that racing had continued there, with only a few days suspended. She keeps up, does Liz!
DUAL GERMAN ACE 1,000 TIMES OVER
Stick with the best! Jah wol. And that still means following Peter Schiergen, rare man of action in racing history as rider of 1,000 winners and trainer of a 1,000 winners. Yet he is just 55.
Are you beginning to trust these Germans; you should. If you’re thinking Schiergen, try more of Andreas Wohler.
I’ve already told you he won the Arc, but he trained another son of Monsun called Novellist, who captured the 2013 King George at Ascot.
If you’ve never been to Berlin, save up some Daqman winnings this summer and go there. See the amazing city, the awesome memorial to the Jews, the cinema-cum-film-museum (the Sony) and the bulletholes in back of the old East side of the museums!
I was shown round the place by the daughter of a former Stasi guard. But that’s another story; so is the night somebody nicked my Stasi helmet on the Ubahn.
A train from Berlin Hauptbahnhof will take you a short journey to the Hoppegarten stables of Roland Dzubasz who, in 2012, became the first Berlin-based trainer to win the German Trainers Championship since before the Second World War.
Markus Klug is the winningmost trainer of recent years but was ousted off the top last year by Henk Grewe. Klug trained Sea The Moon (2014) and Windstoss (2017) to win the German Derby.
Back to Hanover, famous for the original Oktoberfest beer orgies. My Berlin guide told me her brother travels the 286 kilometres to it every year and makes a fortune.
How come? He picks up all the wedding rings from the keller floors after the parties. And the train ticket from Berlin costs only a fiver.
JOCKEYS ONE SHORT OF THE MAXIMUM
JOCKEYS: Leading jockey of 2020 so far, Maxim Pecheur has rides in 11 of the 12 races at Hannover this afternoon.
Pecheur was pipped for the 2019 championship by Bauyrzhan Murzabayev, who is also booked for 11 races out of the 12.
TRAINERS: Henk Grewe, current champion trainer, runs Oriental Dream (2.00) and Sunny Queen (3.30).
Markus Klug, champion 2016, 2017 and 2018 saddles More No Never (1.00), Kaspar (2.00), Mariechen (2.30), Akrible (3.00), Sommelier (4.30), Satomi (5.00).
1.30 Hannover Not much between Big Boots and Majestic Colt (on a line through Nashirah) but that related form was from two races on soft ground. The going is good today for this Listed sprint.
The likely favourite, Namos, was fifth to Too Darn Hot in the Jean Prat (7f) in a Group 1 but beaten a neck by Big Boots over 6f at Baden-Baden when they were third and fourth.
Gamgoom came over to Chelmsford to win in February but that was a class-3 handicap, and the top contenders are all drawn in double figures.
I took a bit of 4.5 in the BETDAQ Sportsbook about Andreas Wohler’s Majestic Colt, who has never been out of the first two on the top tracks. He’s an early bird and he’s ridden by Bauyrzhan Murzabayev.
The colt’s sire, Clodovil, has a 58% winners-to-runners strike rate and more than 200 winners on a sound surface.
3.00 Hannover This Listed for fillies and mares over a mile represents a drop in grade for dual Group-3 winner, Axana, another Andreas Wohler, with Murzabayev doing the steering.
Axana was narrowly beaten when second in the 2019 German 1,000 Guineas, looks a cut above this field, and requires you to take around 4-5.
DURANCE TO LAND SUPERNAP DOUBLE
3.30 Hannover I’ve been steering clear of the lightly-raced maiden three-year-olds but San Remo catches the eye as the first runner of this first day back for Peter Schiergen.
Plainsman is the likely favourite for Wohler-Murzabayev, but his sire, Prince Gibraltar, is only 1-18 so far as a new boy at stud.
I’m looking at that alongside the 5-13 record by progeny of the mare, Suivi, whose daughter Sunny Queen – by Camelot – takes on the colts here for Henk Grewe and jockey Andrasch Starke, the man who rode Danedream to win the Arc.
I took 2.75 Sunny Queen but with a tickle on 11.0 San Remo. It’s live-and-learn day for us all in Deutschland!
5.00 Hannover Not much between the third and fourth in the German Oaks last year, Durance, saddled by Peter Schiergen, and Satomi for Markus Klug.
But Satomi is still a maiden, whereas Durance, twice a winner on good ground, stepped up after the Oaks.
She was unlucky (forced to switch) when beaten only a length in the prestigious E P Taylor Stakes at Woodbine in Canada.
The winner of that race has scored in both her Graded starts this year, making even the 1.7 in the BETDAQ Sportsbook look good about Durance. I take her to complete my supernap double of fillies.
DAQMAN’S BETS
1.30 Hannover (win 10)
BET 2.85pts win MAJESTIC COLT
3.00 Hannover (supernap)
BET 20pts win AXANA
3.30 Hannover (win 10)
BET 5.5pts win SUNNY QUEEN
BET 1pt win SAN REMO
5.00 Hannover (supernap)
BET 20pts win DURANCE
Did you know that as well as checking the realtime prices on BETDAQ below – you can also log into your account and place your bets directly into BETDAQ from BETDAQ TIPS.
