ON the whole, 2018 was a disappointing year for the German racing and breeding industry. There were indeed some major international successes for German-breds – Almandin in Australia, A Raving Beauty in USA, Pakistan Star in Hong Kong – but at home the results were not so positive, and in particular the classic generation produced no new stars.

At the beginning of this decade we had a German Arc de Triomphe winner, followed by two “King George” winners, but those days now seem like the distant past.