Dallmayr has been a partner of the Munich Racing Club since 1996 and this year, after two years of Corona restrictions, the Riemer racecourse was as full as in the best of times. Long queues formed in the morning and around 13,000 visitors were counted in summer temperatures. “The Munich public has not forgotten us during the pandemic,” said the managing director of the Munich Racing Club, Sascha Multerer. “The atmosphere was simply great.”
Big cheers for Sammarco
The cheers after Sammarco’s victory in the Grand Dallmayr Prize were correspondingly enthusiastic. The three-year-old stallion, owned and bred by the Park Wiedingen stud farm, once again demonstrated his great fighting qualities. At the beginning there was little speed in the field of seven, Rene Piechulek and Sammarco took second place behind Queroyal, who is also three years old. “He was in exactly the right position, we hadn’t expected much speed,” said trainer Peter Schiergen. “In the home straight he showed again how he can fight.”
For a moment it seemed as if the four-year-old mare Amazing Grace had escaped everyone. “She ran brilliantly,” said her rider Andrasch Starke, but “the winner is a class horse” and safely caught the mare by three quarters of a length. Third place went to the five-year-old mare Ebaiyra, who had travelled from France and was the favourite in the betting market, ahead of Queroyal and Best Of Lips. For Sammarco it was his third win in his fourth start this year. At the season opener in May he took second place in the Bavarian Classic (Gr.III), then followed successes in the Union (Gr.II), in the Derby (Gr.I) and now in the Grand Dallmayr Prize (Gr.I).
Sammarco is following in the footsteps of Pastorius, who last won the Derby-Dallmayr double in 2012. The Derby winner’s next goal is likely to be the Grand Prix of Baden (Gr.I), which will again cover the classic Derby distance of 2,400m. And he could meet Torquator Tasso in Baden-Baden. The now five-year-old stallion won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Europe’s most important race, last year. René Piechulek was in the saddle: “The two cannot be compared, but to hold your own against the older horses as a three-year-old is quite an achievement.”
Double success for Piechulek and Schiergen
Piechulek had stepped in for the suspended three-time champion jockey Bauyrzhan Murzabayev on Sammarco in Munich. The Dallmayr race day had started ideally for trainer Schiergen and his rider Piechulek. The two-year-old stallion Winning Spirit, owned by Liberty Racing 2022, lived up to his name. In his second start in life, the 1.8:1 favorite won the Dallmayr Gran Verde race over 1,400m ahead of Bint Al Karma by three-quarters of a length.
“Since nobody wanted to go in front, I took over myself,” said Piechulek. “In the end, he always made good progress.” And Schiergen added: “Next we can run either at group level in Baden-Baden or in the listed race in Düsseldorf. We’ll have to wait and see.” According to the experts, the two first-placed horses are likely to be among the better horses of their year.
Riemer home wins and hat trick for Leon Wolff
Piechulek followed up immediately and won the Dallmayr Ethiopia race for three-year-old horses over 2,000m. He won for his partner, trainer Sarah Steinberg, on Anonymus (3.4:1), thus securing the first Munich home win of the day.
Then came the big moment for young rider Leon Wolf, who has been riding horses since he was seven. The 18-year-old scored a real hat trick and won three races in a row – for three different trainers working in Riem. He won the Konrad Werner-Wille-Memorial, a handicap II over 2,000 m, with the eight-year-old grey Louis (25.3:1) for Jutta Mayer, the Dallmayr Capsa Race, a handicap IV over 1,600 m, with Mon Mistral (8.4:1) for Michael Figge and the Dallmayr Home Barista Race, a handicap IV over 2,800 m, with All About Me (5.0:1) for John David Hillis.
