Grosser Preis von Bayern (Group 1)

THERE have been several smart performances by central European horses this year, usually provided by horses trained in the Czech Republic. However, after the Grosser Preis von Bayern at Munich on Sunday, the last Group 1 race of the European season, it is clear that the Hungarian-trained Nancho is the best performer trained east of the Elbe.

Nancho, trained by Gábor Maronka, had won eight of his last nine starts in Hungary before arriving in Baden-Baden last month and winning a Group 3 easily. However, that was a weak group race and Sunday’s field was far stronger, and included two three-year-old fillies from Ralph Beckett’s Hampshire stable with smart form to their credit, Manuela De Vega and Antonia De Vega, both daughters of Lope De Vega.

Nancho was quickest away but confirmed front-runner Ladykiller took the lead after a furlong and set a sedate pace with Nancho tracking him. The order remained unchanged until the entrance to the straight where Nancho went on and quickly opened up a two-length lead. The son of Tai Chi kept on very gamely and repelled all challengers, scoring by a neck from Manuela De Vega with Ashrun a head away third and Antonia De Vega another head back in fourth.

Ralph Beckett was satisfied with his two fillies and said: “They both ran well and I am happy enough. But all credit to the winner, who kept on finding more.”

Nancho is German-bred and was sold as a yearling at the BBAG October Sale for only €9,000. His breeder Heiko Johanpeter had only the one mare at the time, Nancho’s dam Nantana (Paolini), who sadly died after the birth of her next foal. She was out of a mare by the highly influential Monsun and is a direct descendant of the Tesio-bred mare Nella Da Gubbio (Nancho’s tenth dam), who has had an immense influence on German breeding.

The family has been particularly successful for Gestüt Wittekindshof and Jürgen Imm (Stall Nizza) in recent years, but Dr Berglar’s champion Novellist is another member.

This was a first Group 1 victory for Nancho’s sire Tai Chi (by High Chaparral), who was Germany’s top juvenile in 2011 and stands at Gestüt Ohlerweiherhof for a very reasonable €4,500. He has done well with his first three small crops and covered 59 mares this year, a respectable number by German standards.

This result means that all five of Germany’s all-aged Group 1 races have gone abroad – three to the UK, one to France and now one to Hungary. The Munich race was probably not the strongest event at this level, but the winner, whose rating has now been pushed up to 112, deserves plenty of credit. It also marked the first Group 1 success for jockey Bayarsaikhan Ganbat, who was born in Mongolia but came to Germany as a child and is stable jockey for Sascha Smrczek in Düsseldorf.