SMALL fields have been a feature of the European season and only five lined up for last Sunday’s Grosser Allianz-Preis von Bayern at Munich, the final Group 1 of 2022.

However, it was still a strong field, with the three-year-old Tünnes, a half-brother to the top class Torquator Tasso, starting at odds-on.

The going was heavy, indeed much more testing than might have been expected, but this did not worry Tünnes, who went straight into the lead and stayed there.

He saw off the only serious threat, the well-bred Dubawi filly Well Disposed, early in the straight and came home in splendid isolation to win by 10 lengths.

The time, unsurprisingly, was very slow in fact the slowest this century for the race, but it was still an excellent performance.

Trainer Peter Schiergen said later that it had certainly not been the plan to make the running, but under the circumstances, and with none of the others-looking like going on, it was the right tactic.

Tünnes has how won five of his six career starts, the only defeat coming on his debut in September last year and he had been ante-post favourite for the 2022 German Derby for most of the winter.

However, he had to miss that race following a setback, and Schiergen went on to take the race with Sammarco.

Clear answer

After the Munich race of course everybody wanted to know how he compared his two star three-year-olds, but the trainer was obviously not very keen to give a clear answer.

Stable jockey Bauyrzhan Murzabayev said diplomatically that “they are both very, very good, but Tünnes is possibly the better stayer.” The handicapper has in the meantime supplied the official answer, putting Tünnes up to German GAG 100 (=international 120), i.e. 5lb superior to his stable companion. Both will stay in training in 2023 and Schiergen may find it a bit tricky to keep them apart.

Representatives of the Japan Racing Association were also present; they were sufficiently impressed to issue Tünnes with an immediate invitation to run in the Japan Cup, and he will leave Cologne for Tokyo next week to join what seems to be a strong European contingent for that race.

The going there will be totally different, but Schiergen did not regard this a a problem: “Tünnes acts on any ground, what is more important is a strong pace.”

The form of the top German mile and a half races has worked out really well in recent years, and Godolphin’s Rebel’s Romance gave it another boost in the Breeders’ Cup last week.

The Europeans have not been very successful in the past decade in the Japan Cup, but Tünnes, a €38,000 BBAG yearling, could well run a big race in Tokyo and we certainly expect him to win more Group 1 races next year.

As big brother Torquator Tasso has now been retired, Tünnes is now on official ratings currently the best horse in training in Germany.