Westminster 134. Großer Preis von Berlin aus Sicht der irischen Sieger

I made my first-ever trip to Germany on Sunday to attend the Westminster 134th Grosser Preis von Berlin at Hoppegarten just outside Berlin. For those of us that live and breathe racing, stepping outside of our local bubbles to see how other jurisdictions operate and deal with challenges is rarely a wasted exercise. 

I was particularly looking forward to this trip as my regard for German breeding and racing has been expressed both in words and statistics in this space. In short, German-bred and trained horses have performed incredibly well on a horse-for-horse basis on the international racing scene for many decades. 

Mind, those that follow international racing and bloodstock will also know that German racing hasn’t been moving in the right direction during recent times. Their world-renowned breeding industry that has produced so many champions has shrunk to a very concerning extent, with their foal crop having dropped 46% from 2002 to 2019 to around 800 foals a year. Prize money in German stakes races has also shrunk to levels that put them at the bottom of the class in terms of the established racing powers in Europe. 

Even more worrying is that the German government has been quite aggressive with welfare-related interventions, the latest of which proposes to ban the breaking in or training of horses under the age of 30 months. This would obviously have catastrophic impacts on the thoroughbred business if fully implemented after further research is conducted in the next couple of years and has to be a great cause for concern. 

Against that backdrop, my expectations were reserved in terms of what to expect, but I was greeted with an altogether more positive experience at Hoppegarten. 

Firstly, the track itself. Hoppegarten is a racecourse with a fascinating and eventful history that was greatly impacted by the Cold War given it was on the East side of the Iron Curtain that divided Germany after World War II. With the thoroughbred industry being much stronger in West Germany, these decades saw racing continue at Hoppegarten, but not to a comparable standard to what it had previously. When the Berlin Wall finally fell and Germany reunited, there was a fondly remembered day of racing at Hoppegarten that pitted the West German horses against the East German horses and attracted a crowd of 45,000 spectators. I spoke to the top German trainer Peter Schiergen about his memories of that day and he described it as one of his favourite days in his racing life. He was a leading jockey at the time and rode four winners from four rides on West German horses! 

Unfortunately, it seems that the momentum didn’t build from that day and the fortunes of Hoppegarten began to fall. After much uncertainty about the future of the track, it was bought by Gerhard Schöningh in 2008 who has made it his mission to bring the track back to its former glories. Very much leading from the front throughout the day on Sunday, Gerhard has succeeded in getting Group 1 races back to Hoppegarten that had previously been run there prior to the division of Germany. Indeed, last Sunday’s Grosser Preis von Berlin was one of those Group 1s that returned to Hoppegarten in 2011. 

The track itself was in wonderful condition. The track managers set out to produce ground that was on the easy side of good and that is what it was. With a light racing schedule, the surface was in pristine condition with an excellent cover of grass. The stands and facilities are not as new and shiny as some other top tracks in Europe, but they have great character and are kept well. The parade ring is a beauty, with it being punctuated with beautiful mature trees whose shade served to keep the human and equine attendees cool on what was quite a warm day. 

The first of nine races started at 11:15am, with the feature race being the eighth on the card at 15:43. I’m not very good at judging the size of crowds, Ted, but I’d say there was certainly a vibrant crowd of thousands in attendance, with a casual dress code embraced and leashed dogs being allowed to be brought into the facilities. The crowd seemed very engaged with the action and each finish got a loud roar of encouragement from the stands. 

Much of my day was spent chatting with various owners, trainers, breeders and racegoers about German racing and bloodstock. It was concerning to hear the many stark challenges they face, some of which are mirrored closer to home. Mind, one problem that we don’t share is that of mainstream television coverage. It has seemingly been over a decade since any German races have been featured on mainstream television in Germany, with races only being shown on betting channels and on a dedicated YouTube live stream. Compare this to the UK where ITV Racing will show horse racing to a terrestrial audience on 117 days this year, up from 94 days in the first year of their contract in 2017. 

Read that again and take it in. 

Against an international backdrop of reducing or indeed the cessation of mainstream television coverage of horse racing in so many countries, terrestrial television coverage has gone up by 25% in the seven years in the UK. The importance of the maintenance of this mainstream shop window for the sport cannot be overstated, yet ITV Racing seems to be widely taken for granted and indeed criticised by many within the horse racing bubble. As Joni Mitchell was fond of saying: “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.” 

Anyway, enough of the travel guide, history lessons and cross-jurisdiction comparisons, what about the action on the track in the main event? 

Since the Grosser Preis von Berlin returned to Hoppegarten in 2011, three of the winners have gone on to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, namely Danedream, Alpinista and Torquator Tasso. The Joseph O’Brien-trained Al Riffa certainly put his stamp on this year’s renewal of the race by winning it by five lengths under Dylan Browne McMonagle, looking to absolutely relish the mile-and-a-half trip on his first attempt at it. 

I am of course not viewing Al Riffa through entirely unbiased eyes, but he has now produced career-best efforts in each of his last two runs and looked particularly well suited by the longer trip on Sunday. 

Now rated 122 by Timeform, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he can increase that rating again later this season and if he can do that, it very much puts him bang in the middle of the Arc conversation. Given that rain or sun will hold no fears for him on the ground front at Longchamp, he isn’t one to underestimate. 

Thank you, Hoppegarten. I’ll be back.