It may have had a whole array of different names yet the race that began in 1888 as the Grosser Preis von Berlin and in 2009 was run at Dusseldorf on July 19 as the Group One Deutschland-Preis boasts a roll of honour as impressive as any event staged in Germany.
It moved to Hamburg for 2010 and was amalgamated with a Group Two race there, the Hansa-Preis, to become the Grosser Preis von LOTTO Hamburg, a Group One contest over 12 furlongs.
The 12-furlong (2,400 metres) turf contest is for three-year-olds and older horses. Since being opened up to international competition, it has seen some high-class overseas-trained winners.
The race was run at Berlin’s Hoppegarten racecourse from 1888 to 1908, moving across town to Grunewald from 1909 until 1933 (although not run in 1915) before returning to Hoppegarten from 1933 to 1944.
The contest did not happen in either 1945 or 1946, prior to being renamed the Grosser Preis von Nordrhein-Westfalen and switched to Dusseldorf in 1947 before going to Hamburg in 2010.
The race’s distance changed quite a bit too. Between 1888 and1896 it took place over 10 furlongs and then moved up to 11 furlongs until 1908 and has been at 12 furlongs other than 1927-1937, 1943, 1944, 1948-1964 when the trip was 13 furlongs.
Herr W Hiestrich’s four-year-old Durchganger won the first running in 1888, but until 1900 every winner was a three-year-old except two.
Augias, who scored in 1923 and 1924, became the race’s first dual winner, with Oleander repeating the feat in 1928 and 1929. The George Arnull-trained Oleander was described by the 1929 Bloodstock Breeders Review as “the best horse ever bred in Germany” and retired to his owner Baron Oppenheim’s Gestut Schlenderhan as the winner of 18 races and was deemed an unlucky third in the 1929 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
The race was run as the Grosser Preis von Reichshaupstadt from 1937 until 1944 with Ticino becoming the first three-time winner when scoring between 1942, the year he had won the Deutsches Derby, and 1944.
The other hat-trick taker was Ticino’s grandson Mercurius, who landed the final two 2,600-metre renewals in 1963 and 1964, and proved the 200-metre shorter distance in 1965 was no hindrance. Mercurius, who won the 1963 German 2,000 Guineas but was not entered in the Derby, was the only horse his owner, Herr W Moller, had in training.
The 31-time German champion trainer Heinz Jentzsch boasts eight victories of this race with Gestut Schlenderhan’s Lombard right up with the best of them. The champion two-year-old of 1969 dominated German racing in the following seasons and won this contest in 1971 and 1972 when it became a Group One event.
Heinz Jentzsch also conditioned the brilliant 1986 Deutschland-Preis winner, Acatenango. The son of Surumu was sent to France to land the 1986 Group One Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and finished a creditable third to Triptych in the Group One Coronation Cup on his only visit to Britain.
He retired to his breeder’s Gestut Fahrhof in 1988 with seven Group One successes to his name, three German Horse of the Year titles, and shared with Brigadier Gerard and Ardross the record of 13 European Pattern race wins.
Acatenango’s son Lando, who scored at Dusseldorf in 1995, went on to further promote German bloodlines overseas when seeing off an international line-up to take that year’s Japan Cup.
In 1953, the French-trained three-year-old Tasmin was the first overseas-trained and the other two successful raiders from France have been Lydian (1981 trained by Criquette Head) and Le Glorieux (1987 trained by Robert Collet).
In 1990, trainer Paul Cole recorded the first British-trained success when the globetrotting Ibn Bey beat the 1989 winner Mondrian.
Remarkably, Ibn Bey ran in eight Group or Grade One events in seven different countries that year and lost out by just a length to Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled in the richest race of 1990, the Breeders’ Cup Classic, on dirt at Belmont Park in New York.
Lomitas may have had to settle for second in the Deutsches Derby, but he gained compensation when landing the 1991 Deutschland-Preis under Peter Schiergen.
The son of Niniski went on to stand under the Darley banner at H. H. Sheikh Mohammed’s Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket, before returning to Gestut Fahrhof in Germany in July, 2006.
There was a second British-trained winner when Luso, from Clive Brittain’s Newmarket stable, scored under Frankie Dettori in 1997.
The famous Godolphin blue colours swept to victory in 2000 when Richard Hills steered the 1999 Group One St Leger hero Mutafaweq to win by three quarters of a length from the Peter Schiergen-trained Quezon City.
But it was another Godolphin horse, Marienbard, who was arguably the greatest modern-day winner of the Deutschland-Preis. The five-year-old, partnered by Frankie Dettori, held off Yavana’s Pace by a length and a half at Dusseldorf in 2002 and, after a victory in the Group One Grosser Preis von Baden, he progressed to beat Sulamani in the Group One Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp.
Sabiango landed the 2003 Deutschland-Preis on his third attempt. Trained by Andreas Wohler, Sabiango had been unsuccessful on his two previous starts in the race (2001 and 2002) but the five-year-old rallied to beat runner-up Storm Trooper by three and a half lengths. Sabiango went on to win the Grade One Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap at Hollywood Park for US-based trainer Bob Baffert.
There was more British glory in 2004, with the Sir Mark Prescott-trained Albanova proving successful. This was the first of three Group One wins in Germany for the mare.
The 2005 renewal went to the filly Gonbarda, the only three-year-old in the line-up, who defeated her elders by a length and three quarters to keep the prize on home soil. The British-trained Collier Hill ran a great race in second, while Godolphin’s Razkalla put in a highly creditable effort back in fourth place, beaten three lengths.
The 2006 race took place on June 25, a month earlier than usual because of the football World Cup being played in Germany. Four-year-old Donaldson, trained by Peter Rau and ridden by Torsten Mundry, made all and saw off Schiaparelli and Salutino by three quarters of a length and a length and three quarters respectively.
In 2007, Schiaparelli gained compensation under Andrasch Starke by beginning a run of three Group One victories in a row with success for trainer Peter Schiergen in the Deutschland-Preis. Schiaparelli went on to further Group One success in 2009, having joined Godolphin.
Despite being the dominant force in German racing and breeding, Gestut Schlenderhan had failed to win the Deutschland-Preis since Arratos triumphed in 1973. The Jens Hirschberger-trained Adlerflug ended his owner’s long wait in spectacular fashion with a comprehensive victory in 2008, when he powered clear under Fredrik Johansson to beat Quijano by seven lengths.
Jens Hirschberger returned to the winner’s enclosure for the second consecutive year in 2009 when the Baron Georg von Ullman-owned Getaway took the spoils under Stephen Hellyn. It was the six-year-old’s first Group One triumph, having collected a trio of Group Two contests in his career, and the Monsun horse went on to take the Group One Grosser Preis von Baden that September.
The 2010 renewal went to Godolphin’s Campanologist, trained by Saeed bin Suroor. Given a masterful ride by Frankie Dettori, the son of Kingmambo went clear entering the final furlong and fended off a late challenge from the rallying Weiner Walzer to win by three-quarters of a length in 2m 33.04s. The win was a well a deserved first Group One success for the five-year-old.