COMMENTARY
MAY 31, 2013
Chopin flies the flag for Germany at Epsom
by Geoffrey Riddle of Racing UK
Trainer Andreas Wohler never even considered Chopin as a Derby horse. The German trainer knew that the son of Santiago was good, but his sights were set on the German Derby before Sheikh Fahad
al Thani stepped in.
After taking a Group 3 at Krefeld in April by eight
lengths, there was significant international interest in buying Chopin, but the impressive winner was snapped up by Sheikh
Fahad’s team.
Even after that success there were quotes of 40-1 about
Chopin for the Derby, but the colt, who will be ridden in Saturday’s Epsom showpiece
by Jamie Spencer, now trades at as short as 8-1 for the Investec-sponsored
extravaganza.
Wohler has never been to Derby day, but the 51-year-old
trainer has ridden around Epsom before, and was recreating the buzz in his mind at
Breakfast with the Stars last week.
“The Derby is the Derby of Derbies, the race of races
and the original,” he said. “I have never been here for the race but I always watch it at
home. On the day itself it will be a special day with a big crowd. If you don’t feel
pressure on a day like this you are in the wrong place. I’ve never been here on Derby day
but I can just imagine it. German Derby day is the biggest day in our racing calendar
but this is another step up on that.”
Wohler rode in the Amateur Rider’s Derby 30 years ago at
Epsom, and coming into Tattenham Corner leading the field he knew he had gone off too fast and was simply
waiting for the chance to get back to the weighing room and back on the ferry to Germany.
“It was a great feeling and very exciting,” Wohler said.
“I had to make the running but kept pole position to Tattenham Corner. I was probably going a bit too quick as
there were four or five of us in a line. I think in terms of giving advice to Jamie Spencer, he has more experience than
I have.”
Chopin will be Germany’s first runner in the Derby.
Foreign challengers are hardly new, but it took 85 years before a French-bred horse struck in the 12-furlong contest
when Gladiateur earned himself the sobriquet of the “Avenger of Waterloo” with his victory in 1865. Kisber was the first horse foaled in Hungary to win in 1876, while Iroquois, owned by tobacco millionaire Pierre
Lorillard, was the first horse bred in America to triumph in 1881.
Winners trained abroad took a lot longer to hit the mark
with Orby striking first for Ireland in 1907 for Frederick McCabe and Dunbar, owned and trained in France by
American Herman Duryea, becoming the first of nine French horses to win in 1914.
The stoutness of German breeding would seem to be
tailor-made for the demands of Epsom. Wohler’s Lomitas was a multiple Group 1 winner over 12
furlongs in 1991, while his Paolini was also a winner at the highest level a decade later. Danedream showed it was more than a trend when she won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2011. With
Novellist — also trained by Wohler — and the Coral Eclipse-bound Pastorius two of the few
three-year-olds worldwide last season to beat their elders in open Group 1 races, it is
clear that German horses are extremely competitive.
“In Germany he is outstanding, but compared to Irish and
English horses we just don’t know yet,” said Wohler, who trains a string of over 100 in Bremen. “It is very
exciting thing, not only for me but for the German racing industry. German breeding is doing really well and our
top-class horses are doing well internationally, but we have to step up as a whole.”
German horses may have the genes, but those genes are
not steeled on undulating tracks such as Epsom. Only Dusseldorf can boast anything
like the up and down nature of Epsom, which has a sweeping left-hand rise of 134
feet before a descent of 34 feet around Tattenham Corner leading into a cambered
straight. Wohler took Chopin to Dusseldorf when the Derby plan was initiated with
a view to giving him experience. Spencer flew to Germany to partner the horse in
a spin going the wrong way around the course over five furlongs. As an effort it
was noble, but as a preparation for one of the most idiosyncratic tests in
world racing it falls woefully short.
“We were thinking about coming to Epsom (for Breakfast
with the Stars) with the horse, but it is a long way, which is why we went to Dusseldorf, which has the biggest
ups and downs in Germany,” Wohler continued. “He handled it really well and Jamie was happy with him. As a
two-year-old his first race involved an overnight stay and it was easy. So I wouldn’t worry about this. We will be
coming on Friday.”
The process of supplementing a horse to the Derby was introduced in 1998 and
Kris Kin was the first to succeed in 2003 after connections stumped up
£90,000 at
the five-day stage. As evidenced by what happened to Telescope this week, even the best-laid plans can go
astray at any time. River Proud was supplemented in 2008 but never made it to the Surrey track.
Unlike Dawn Approach, Jim
Bolger’s overwhelming odds-on favorite, Chopin is almost guaranteed to the stay the Derby distance. Wohler only ran
him in the nine-furlong event at Krefeld because it sat well with the horse’s proposed program. Chopin’s sire
Santiago may have been a miler with his first Classic crop this season, but his dam is Caucasienne, a 13-furlong
Galileo filly who raced for John Hills.
“There are a lot of doubts about other horses staying. I
think the horse has a proper chance of finishing in the first four, although it’s a different thing to say that he
could win,” Sheikh Fahad said. “The Derby is the number one race in the world — the race you want to have a runner
in. A race too that you want to have a runner with a proper chance, which is why we have not been represented
until now.”