AFTER four successive years in which German-bred and trained runners had triumphed in one of the world’s iconic races – the 2011 Arc, the King George in 2012 and 2013 and last year the Melbourne Cup – 2015 turned out to be a disappointment.

The only Group 1 successes for German runners outside their own country were in Italy – Lovelyn in the Gran Premio del Jockey Club, Red Dubawi in the Premio Vittorio di Capua and, a big surprise, Kazzio in the Gran Premio di Merano over jumps – but with all due respect, these races do not really count for much at the highest level.

There are two main reasons for this. One was that one reaction of the successes listed above was to increase the interest of foreign owners and trainers in buying German runners. The much higher prize money available elsewhere made them worth a good deal more in monetary terms than if staying at home.

Hong Kong and especially Australia have become popular destinations and several agents from down under are actively following the German racing scene in the hope of finding the next Protectionist.

The second reason is that this season the top Germans, and in particular the three-year-old colts, were hit by a string of injuries, rather ironic in view of the fact that one reason German-breds are so highly prized is that they are on the whole tough, stay sound and keep their form well over a period of years.

There is also great interest from British and Irish National Hunt stables in picking up German-breds, including group race performers.

It should not be forgotten that the current top-rated chaser is German-bred (Don Cossack), as well as Champion Hurdle hope Arctic Fire (bought as a BBAG yearling for a derisory €3,000) as well as potential champion Annie Power, German on both sides of her pedigree.

In the first half of this season it appeared that there were three outstanding three-year-old colts: Quasillo and Karpino, both bred by Gestüt Fährhof (although the latter was now racing in Qatari colours) and trained by Andreas Wöhler, and Australian-owned Shimrano.

To start with, all went to plan: Quasillo won his first two races in very promising style, Karpino also remained unbeaten and won the German 2000 Guineas in excellent fashion, and Shimrano won the Union-Rennen, the main Derby trial. Then it all went pear-shaped.

INJURY

Quasillo and Karpino both had to miss the Deutsches Derby because of injury, Shimrano started a hot favourite but ran a shocker and has not been seen out since. He was trained by Irishman Paul Harley at Hanover, who has now left Germany and rookie trainer Melanie Sauer is now in charge, while Wöhler expects Quasillo and Karpino to be back in full training with him in 2016.

The trainer-jockey combination of Peter Schiergen and Andrasch Starke has easily the best Derby record of any modern German trainer, but in the spring they were adamant that they would have no chance this time. However, by Derby day the situation had changed, and Stall Nizza’s Irish-bred Nutan ran out a five-length winner of the Hamburg classic for them, in what has to be said was a relatively weak edition.

The series of injuries was not yet over, and Nutan himself was the next casualty; after running a respectable third in the Grosser Preis von Berlin, he was also injured and has been retired.

Extraordinary Year

However Nutan’s Derby victory was the start of an extraordinary year for his owner Jürgen Imm, who races under the name Stall Nizza. Imm, a banker from Freiburg, keeps his best mares in Ireland, at Joe Hernon’s Castletown Stud in Co Cork, and they really did him proud this year. They are normally covered by Coolmore stallions, and Nutan is by Duke Of Marmalade while his close relation Nightflower, runner-up this year in the Preis der Diana and later winner of the Preis von Europa, is by Dylan Thomas.

The Preis der Diana itself was won by Turfdonna, giving Andreas Wöhler some compensation for missing out on the Derby; she is also Australian-owned and another one to be injured later on.

Jürgen Imm and his Stall Nizza are leading German breeders and owners in 2016 by a clear margin. Peter Schiergen and Andreas Wohler became the first trainers to dead-heat in the trainers’ title race after the pair agreed to saddle no more runners this year after December 15th. There is also a close race for the jockeys’ title between Starke, who could become champion for the eighth time, and Alexander Pietsch, challenging for a first title.

Champion sire, for the third time, is Areion who stands at Gestüt Evershorst at a 2016 fee of €9,500