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PRESS RELEASE
Sales & Racing Festival from October 18 - 20, 2024 in Baden-Baden - Iffezheim:
The assistant is the main actor in the Baden Galopp Herbst Trophy
Baden-Baden-Iffezheim, October 20. October 2024 (MH) - Assistent was the main protagonist in the last group race of the 2024 season on the final Sunday of the Sales & Racing Festival at the racecourse in Baden-Baden-Iffezheim: The 2.2:1 top favorite Assistent, prepared by Henk Grewe for Eckhard Sauren in Cologne, a specialist for soft ground and multiple group winner who had taken a break since the Derby week in Hamburg, dominated the Baden Galopp Herbst Trophy. In this €55,000 Group III race over a distance of 2,400 meters, the Sea The Moon son, ridden very carefully by Thore Hammer-Hansen, the number one jockey in the statistics, pulled away from the competition early on with an advantage of three and a quarter lengths. He had already caught up with the leading Atoso in the final stretch and was the winner of the 32,000 euro prize money well before the finish line.
The former Derby fourth-placed player's sixth success in his 22nd career start is unlikely to be his last. Now his team is heading for the Grand Allianz of Bavaria in Munich on November 10.
Iffezheim mare Tanami Starlet strong second place
The positive surprise of the test was the mare Tanami Starlet, trained by Gerald Geisler in Iffezheim for El Sur Racing, who showed great reserves in second place and delivered her best performance to date. Another outsider, Lion's Head, was able to improve nicely. Atoso might have gone a little wide at the end of the stretch after racing from the lead, but he held on for a long time. In contrast, Augustus, who finished third in the Derby, had to retire early. Another three-year-old, Alleno, had to pull out even earlier.
VOICES:
Thore Hammer-Hansen (jockey of Assistent): "This victory means a lot to me, because Assistent is a horse close to my heart. My thanks go to Mr. Sauren and Henk Grewe. I had already flown to Germany for Assistent before my engagement as a private jockey for Mr. Sauren."
Henk Grewe (trainer of Assistent): "We had deliberately given Assistent a break since Hamburg. Thore gave him a great ride. Now we're heading for Munich in three weeks."
Eckhard Sauren (owner of Assistent): "Assistent needed the break and the soft ground. Thore pushed him early and then controlled the opponents at all times. We are looking forward to Munich. I'm flying to the auction in Deauville today with Henk Grewe."
Gerald Geisler (coach of Tanami Starlet): "We feel like winners. The mare ran a great race and made a big jump, she did everything really well. Now I have to rethink the plan.
Yasmin Almenräder (Lion's Head coach): "He has straightened out his recent form. He always runs strongly in Iffezheim. The race was very bumpy. Now we'll go to the Silver Horse in Cologne or abroad."
Manfred Ostermann (owner of Alleno): "He couldn't cope with the ground at all."
The final day of racing began with the anything but unexpected first career win for the mare Ally McMagic (4.4:1, A. de Vries) from Pavel Vovcenko's stables in Bremen in a 2,000 meter test against Little Addition and Nairo.
Goliath sister with her first success
As a half-sister of the great Goliath, Galaxy (3.3:1, B. Ganbat), who was sent into a 1,800 meter race by Sascha Smrczek from Düsseldorf, naturally has the best family references. At the very end, the three-year-old overtook Ilsola, who was already thought to be safe, and also celebrated her first success.
Just a week ago in Cologne, the young Italian rider Andrea Ricupa had attracted attention with a series of three. Now he led Corelllian Star (6.9:1), trained by Romy van der Meulen in the Netherlands, to her first career win in a 1,000 meter level IV. The mare had everything sorted out early on ahead of Powerstown, Lady Miller and Josies Kid. The four-furlong bet paid 2,727.6:1 euros.
With a spectacular final offensive, Aturana (6.3:1), trained by Markus Klug and ridden by Adrie de Vries, secured a 2,200 meter equalizer III ahead of Die Da Isses, Shenzhen and Dilpak. The four-horse bet brought 1,020.8:1 euros. Jockey Adrie de Vries will head to Dubai on October 30th for his winter engagement.
Lucrative premiums in the T. v. Zastrow Handicap Series
There were lucrative prizes for the winners of the T. v. Zastrow Handicap Series: trainer Dr. Andreas Bolte secured the winner's purse of 2,500 euros, and the runners-up Romy van der Meulen (1,250 euros) and Bohumil Nedorostek (750 euros) also received valuable cash prizes.
Lazzaro continues to grow
The fourth win of the season for the ground specialist Lazzaro (2.8:1) from the Dresden stable of Stefan Richter in a 2,400 meter level II was a sovereign affair. Under Martin Seidl, the favorite finally broke away from Padre Palou and Nachthimmel.
Stefan Richter and Andrea Ricupa completed a double victory on this day with Saldarion (7.7:1) in the final round of the Mehl-Mülhens-Stiftung - Nachwuchsförderpreis (level III, 1,800 m), a competition for riders up to the age of 30.
Winner Caravanserai disqualified
But Andrea Ricupa also had to learn the other side of the coin in the final 2,200-metre equalizer IV after a hussar ride on Andreas Suborics' Caravanserai, who had just changed hands at the BBAG autumn auction. It came to the unusual situation that Caravanserai was completely taken out of the classification by the race organizers because the eartips had not been declared. As a result, the original runner-up Mr. Jury Twister (32.4:1) with Wladimir Panov for Munich trainer Jutta Mayer was declared the winner ahead of Sommerberger, Nebrasko and Dawn to Dusk. The four-horse bet was not hit, so there will be a jackpot at the spring meeting. The betting turnover in the nine races on Sunday amounted to 524,519.32 euros.
Andre Lott
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Baden Galopp GmbH & Co. KG
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76473 Iffezheim
Tel: +49 1736755151
