Tag Archive for: Baden-Baden

Dubai Honour has no answer to Arc-bound Fantastic Moon

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Fantastic Moon is headed once again for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe after a smart success in the 154th Grosser Preis von Baden, in which British raider Dubai Honour had to settle for the runner-up spot.

The winner, a son of Sea The Moon trained by Sarah Steinberg, took his chance in the great French race last season after winning the German Derby and the Prix Niel, the latter over the Arc course and distance.

Ultimately he was 11th on ground perhaps too soft for his liking, but he has returned to action this season in good heart, with success in a Cologne Group Two and a solid second in the Gross Dallmayr-Preis at Munich.

In Baden-Baden he was partnered as usual by Arc-winning jockey Rene Piechulek of Torquator Tasso fame, and this time got his favoured quick ground in a field of six that included William Haggas’ globetrotting Dubai Honour, who was last seen in the King George at Ascot.

The Haggas runner was the even-money favourite with Fantastic Moon a 21-10 chance, but Germany’s 2023 Horse of the Year was patiently ridden to keep constant tabs on the market leader.

The two were both in the hunt in the final furlong and a half, but it was eventually Fantastic Moon who prevailed, making a daring run for the stands rail and crossing the line a length and a quarter ahead, to book his ticket back to Paris.

Lars-Wilhelm Baumgarten, who runs the Liberty Racing syndicate that owns the horse, said: “What a day, what a horse. He is a star.

“We are very happy with him, he was on his A-game on this ground and it was a very good ride from Rene Piechulek.

“It was world class, he is the best horse in Germany and we will go to the Arc now.

“Straight to the Arc, Rene will ride him. We are very happy, his turn of foot is so good on this ground, he needs good ground and to relax in the race.

“That’s important for him, if he is too handy he cannot give his A-game and he needs good ground for his best form.”

Coral cut Fantastic Moon to 25-1 for the Arc, and Baumgarten added: “Our syndicate is very happy and excited to be going to Paris again.”

Moon rising ahead of Grosser Preis von Baden bid

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Fantastic Moon will bid to go one better than his sire in the 154th Grosser Preis von Baden on Sunday.

The colt, trained by Sarah Steinberg, is by Sea The Moon, who was second in the 2014 renewal of this contest as an odds-on favourite.

Fantastic Moon followed in the footsteps of his father when winning the German Derby at Hamburg last season.

His three-year-old season also included a second-placed run in the Group One Grosser Dallmayr-Preis and a Prix Niel victory before he contested the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and came home in 11th place.

This term, he was runner-up in a Listed event at Hoppegarten when making his seasonal debut before a disappointing run in the Prix Ganay at Longchamp in April.

He bounced back to take the Group Two Grosser Preis der Badischen Wirtschaft at Cologne on his next outing and remained in good form when beaten only a length to finish second again in the Grosser Dallmayr-Preis.

Those runs have led him to the Grosser Preis von Baden at Baden-Baden on Sunday, where he will face five rivals at Group One level.

The field includes one English-trained runner in William Haggas’ Dubai Honour, a true globetrotter who has brought home the goods from various jurisdictions throughout his career.

Fantastic Moon is owned by Liberty Racing, whose founder Lars-Wilhelm Baumgarten said: “We have good ground here in Baden-Baden, it’s summertime and it’s 30 degrees, so we hope we’ll get his best ground.

“The race is not easy, we have a good field with a colt by Alderflug called Narrativo in the race.

“Dubai Honour is a multiple Group One winner, so it’s not going to be easy to win, but we hope he will run a good race and improve a little bit from him last run.

“He was second in a Group One, so we hope now we can win the 154th Grosser Preis von Baden.”

Soumillon swoops late on Zagrey to bag Baden-Baden honours

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Christophe Soumillon conjured up some magic aboard Zagrey as Yann Barberot’s colt prevailed in a thrilling finish to the 153rd Wettstar.de Grosser Preis von Baden.

The four-year-old brought some high-class form to the table ahead of the Baden-Baden Group One having finished third behind Equinox in the Dubai Sheema Classic in the spring before picking up a silver medal when bumping into an on-song Westover in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.

However, victory in Germany looked doubtful when Soumillon found his passage repeatedly blocked at the business end of the 12-furlong contest.

The experienced rider managed to get his mount rolling at just the right moment and timed his challenge to perfection as he edged out Henk Grewe’s Mr Hollywood in the shadow of the post.

“From the start it was a very difficult race and the jockeys changed their lines quite fast,” Soumillon told Wettstar.

“I wasn’t in a great position approaching the first turn and I had to take a bit forward down the backstraight.

“When I came into the straight, my horse changed legs and he was not fine. I gave him time and there was not a big gap but I knew the main contender was right in front of me, so I was just trying to follow him.

“He has such a big heart and he fought so hard the last 150 yards. He is an amazing horse and it is a pleasure for me to be here.”

Torquator Tasso won the Grosser Preis von Baden before tasting Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe glory in 2021, while last year both Mendocino and the defending champion booked their place in the ParisLongchamp line-up when finishing first and second respectively in this contest.

Not only does Zagrey’s victory enhance his own Arc claims, but it also provides a welcome boost to the form of Ralph Beckett’s Westover, who is as short as 8-1 for Europe’s richest middle-distance contest.

Zagrey could now head to the French capital on October 1 with a first Group One success under his belt and his handler was full of praise for the horse.

“It is never easy to win a Group One, even with a horse as good as him,” said Barberot.

“It was a great race in the straight. Obviously there wasn’t a lot of room in the last 500 metres, especially in a race where there was no pace early on. But the horse showed a lot of courage to get there.

“Having said that, I was quite worried heading into the home straight.”

Next stop Baden-Baden for Fantastic Moon

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Germany Derby hero Fantastic Moon will contest the Grosser Preis von Baden on Sunday – the race that paved the way to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for Germany’s most recent success story.

The Sarah Steinberg-trained three-year-old has a true German pedigree as he is by Sea The Moon and out of a German-bred mare named Frangipani.

He won the Preis des Winterfavoriten, a Cologne Group Three, as a two-year-old and demonstrated he had trained on into his three-year-old season with a third-placed run in the Bavarian Classic in May.

From there he headed to Baden-Baden and won the Derby trial by a comfortable three lengths, a performance that led him to emulate his sire and land the German Derby itself with a two-and-a-quarter-length success in early July

High-profile international targets were then discussed and the Arc was mentioned at one stage, but Fantastic Moon will take up neither his entry in the Prix Niel or the Irish Champion Stakes and will instead stay closer to home this weekend – in a Group One that was previously won by subsequent Arc hero Torquator Tasso.

Lars-Wilhlem Baumgarten of owners Liberty Racing said: “He is very well, he worked well on Monday in the morning and he will run in the Grosser Preis von Baden on Sunday.

“We nominated him today for the race, we supplemented him.

“We decided against the Champion Stakes and against the Prix Niel and went for Baden-Baden.

“It is a German race, we know the horses, there is one French horse in the race and then we will see how good he is.”

The colt would need to be supplemented if he were to follow the path trodden by Torquator Tasso and connections will reconsider that idea after Sunday’s performance.

Baumgarten said: “We will talk about that after the race on Sunday.”