Gestut Schlenderhan’s owner Baronin Karin von Ullmann died on Monday evening
aged 87. She was the fifth generation responsible for Germany’s renowned oldest
privately-owned Thoroughbred stud, having taken over from her mother, Baronin
Gabrielle von Oppenheim, in January 1988. She was the great-granddaughter of
Eduard von Oppenheim, the stud’s founder in 1869, and was born on the premises
in 1922.
Instrumental in the day-to-day running of the establishment from an early age
and through World War II, Karin bred and raced with friends in the colors of
Stall Wolkenstein prior to taking over the reins at Schlenderhan. During that
period, the most important horse they owned was the dual classic-winning filly
Ivresse, later the dam of two classic winners and an influential foundation
mare.
One of the first major winners under her tenure at Schlenderhan was the 1995
Preis von Europa (Ger-G1) victor Solon, who ended a drought of big winners for
the stud and that was followed in 2003 by the Deutsches Derby (Ger-G1) hero Dai
Jin. That success made her the latest of the operation’s owners to breed a
winner of the Hamburg classic and four years later, the chestnut Adlerflug (In
the Wings [GB])fulfilled a lifetime’s ambition when sailing to victory in the
same race in the famed silks.
Just this year, Irian (Tertullian) annexed the Mehl-Mulhens-Rennen (German
2000 Guineas) (Ger-G2) for the stud, which stands the proven international sire
Monsun.
Renowned for her great sense of humor and positivism, the Baroness is
survived by her twins Baron Georg von Ullmann, himself a world-famous owner and
breeder, and Ilona.