“We are of course very happy that we managed to end the season in style with a top program despite the difficult weather conditions,” said the managing director of the Munich Racing Club, Sascha Multerer. And added with a wink: “There are always races in Munich, our track can handle practically anything.”
Engels start-finish
Girl power prevailed in the main event of the day: Lilli-Marie Engels, one of the best riders in the country, won the Isfahan Munich Autumn Prize on the four-year-old gelding Atoso. The listed race over 2,200m, with prize money of 25,000 euros, was well fielded with a dozen starters. Atoso won start-finish, and was also able to fend off the energetic attacks of Palatina. Third place went to Waldadler, ahead of the favorite Enjoy The Moon.
“I wasn’t sure whether he would make it through the race from the front,” said Engels, “but he keeps surprising us and has such a big heart and fights.” The trainer of the winner, owned by Ingolf Heinecke from Neuenhagen in Brandenburg, is Sarka Schütz, who works in Hoppegarten near Berlin. “He is not always easy in training, but I am so proud of him,” she said of Atoso.
Everything is perfect for Uncle Volli
The best handicap race of the day went to Dresden. The five-year-old Onkel Volli, trained by Stefan Richter, won the Handicap II over 1,600m with a prize of 11,500 euros by a clear margin. “Everything went well today, he easily overtook me in the straight,” said winning rider Wladimir Panov happily. The odds of winning for Onkel Volli in the Rubaiyat race were 13.4:1.
The namesakes of the main Munich races, Rubaiyat and Isfahan, are owned by Darius Racing and Stefan Oschmann, the former CEO of the pharmaceutical company Merck. “Rubaiyat has won over a wide range of distances,” said Oschmann, highlighting the versatility of the former “Galloper of the Year.” “And Isfahan was my first really good horse,” said Oschmann about the Derby winner, whose son Sisfahan followed in his father’s footsteps a few years later. “You wouldn’t even dare to dream of that,” said breeder and owner Oschmann.
Czech victory at the start
The race day began with a victory for the Czech guest Norsk, trained by Jan Raja and ridden by David Liska. He won the MIG Fund prize for two-year-old horses over 1,600m by a neck ahead of Mister Fernando. Trainer Michael Figge secured the first home victory of the day with the four-year-old mare Tilda Rangau, who he also owns, in the handicap IV over 2,000m. His trainee Celine Johne was in the saddle.
Trainer Andreas Suborics was able to celebrate as a double winner. The former top jockey, who lives in Cologne, first scored points with the three-year-old mare Sweet Hole over 2,200m, ridden by Martin Seidl. And he won with the already seven-year-old Why’s Whyoming in the handicap III over 1,600m, the prize of the horse practice Dr. Zeitelhack.
The amateurs have the last word
The last race of the year was reserved for the amateurs. In the 6th round of the Luimex Bavarian Amateur Championship, a handicap IV over 1,600m, Nina Baltromei won on Mykene, trained by Peter Schiergen. After the 6th round, Ines Löwe and Claudia Fleißner shared victory in the Bavarian Amateur Championship, both of whom had the same number of points and even the same placings.
After a long winter break, the 2024 season will resume on May 1st in Munich-Riem. The focus will then be on the first group race of the season, the Bavarian Classic – for years an important signpost for the most important horse race of the year, the German Derby.
