Dhe emergency signals came early, much too early: Already in the final arc, around 600 meters from the finish, Torquator Tasso, the big star of the spring meeting on the racecourse in Iffezheim near Baden-Baden, could no longer keep up with the pace at the front. Not to mention that the stallion, who sensationally won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe last October and thus the most important gallop race in Europe, was able to show his world-famous performance in the final sprint.
Clearly beaten, “Tassolino”, as he is affectionately known in his home stable in Mülheim an der Ruhr, tumbled to the finish line in the Grand Prix of the Baden Economy over 2200 meters, a good 18 lengths behind the winner as the penultimate in the field of seven. His regular rider, René Piechulek, was shocked. “There’s nothing to say,” he snapped at the reporter right after the race. Later he said: “It wasn’t the normal Torquator Tasso, I can’t explain it.”
The trainer Marcel Weiß reacted much more calmly, who had always pointed out in advance that the five-year-old was not fit enough and that this was a start to build up. “The pace was too high over the distance that was too short, I’m glad that he came out of the race healthy apart from a few scratches. That doesn’t change anything about our plans,” said Weiss. And they primarily plan to defend the title in Paris in October.
But the next goal is Hamburg, the Great Hansa Prize over 2400 meters, which Torquator Tasso won last year; Incidentally, even after a messed up start to the season on the home track in Mülheim. Then – depending on the form curve – either the famous Ascot or Berlin will lure you in: In September, gallop fans can look forward to a last appearance in Germany in the Grand Prix of Baden, before Paris and possibly Japan in November await at the end of an extraordinary racing career.
Activity as a stallion
The Auenquelle stud bought Torquator Tasso at the BBAG yearling auction in Iffezheim for 24,000 euros. His winnings are currently more than 3.2 million euros. In the coming year, Torquator Tasso will then work as a stallion at Auenquelle in Rödinghausen near Osnabrück and step into the hoof prints of his father Adlerflug. The Schlenderhan Derby winner of 2007 died unexpectedly last year – a bitter loss for the small German thoroughbred breed, because Adlerflug fathered outstanding offspring.
So also the winner of the Grand Prix on Sunday, Alter Adler. The now four-year-old stallion came second in the German Derby in 2021, like Torquator Tasso the year before, and the two chestnut stallions also look very similar with a distinctive white blaze on their faces. Alter Adler showed consistently good performances after the derby, but without winning. Now the plan worked despite doubly adverse circumstances. On the one hand, the day before, trainer Waldemar Hickst seriously considered canceling the stallion for the race because the ground seemed too tight to him. “Fortunately, it rained a bit,” said Hickst. On the other hand, the planned tactic did not work. “He was supposed to go with the front, but it was too fast for him at first.”
Heavy final sprint
Andrasch Starke, Germany’s most successful jockey in history, was forced to choose the waiting tactic and rolled over the field from behind on the home stretch. “It’s one of the best moments of my time in racing,” said Freiburg private banker Jürgen Imm, whose horses are known as Stall Nice. Imm has already celebrated two derby victories with Nicaron and Nutan. “Alter Adler receives entries for all major Grand Prix races in Germany, but the big goal will be the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe,” said Hickst.
Torquator Tasso’s performance was the best advertisement for the new racetrack operator, Baden Galopp. “With 30,000 spectators on three days of racing and 1.9 million euros in betting sales, we exceeded our own expectations and are very satisfied,” said Managing Director Stephan Buchner after the first spring meeting he directed. While the Iffezheim racetrack, the problem child of recent years, has apparently come to calmer waters, there are crashes in a few other places.
Politics makes life difficult for the racing clubs in Bremen and Berlin-Hoppegarten, for example, tax refunds, although approved by law, are stuck in the financial bureaucracy, and two influential doers resigned from the board of the umbrella organization Deutscher Galopp. The reason is apparently atmospheric disturbances and the dispute over the right strategy for the future. “I hope the success of our meeting can help everyone to focus on galloping again,” said Buchner.
