The first cards are on the table: The three-year-old stallion Gostam won the WETTSTAR.de Bavarian Classic on May 1st at the Munich-Riem racecourse. He secured a comfortable victory against Lommi, with Peace of Japan finishing third. Around 6,000 spectators witnessed the successful season debut of the still-undefeated Gostam, who catapulted himself to the top of his age group last year with three wins in three starts and continues to reign supreme there.
“I’m happy and relieved, because having a horse like that is also a burden,” said trainer Andreas Wöhler afterwards. He praised his entire team at the training stable, but also the winning jockey Eduardo Pedroza: “Eddy handled that very confidently.”
The 2,000m race for three-year-old horses, with a total prize purse of €70,000, is considered one of the most important stages on the road to the German Derby. The most important flat racing race of the year will be decided in Hamburg at the beginning of July.
Guide to the German Derby
In recent years, the Bavarian Classic has increasingly established itself as a Derby harbinger. The list of Derby winners or placings at Riem is headed by Lucky Speed in 2013. Ishfahan followed in 2016, Sammarco in 2022, and Fantastic Moon in 2023. This did not go unnoticed internationally. Consequently, the race was upgraded from Group III to Group II by the relevant European committee, and the winner’s purse increased to €40,000.
Gostam will likely now compete in the French Derby (Gr.I), which will be run over 2,100m in June, 300m less than the German Derby (Gr.I). “We don’t yet know if he can really handle the classic Derby distance,” said Holger Faust, manager of Darius Racing. “But I had the feeling he still had some energy left today.”
Gostam is owned by Darius Racing, the racing stable of former Merck chairman Stefan Oschmann, and Michael Motschmann, chairman of the Munich Racing Club and founder of the MIG funds. The two know what a Derby victory feels like: in 2021, they achieved this great success together with Sisfahan, and five years earlier, Sisfahan’s sire, Isfahan, had won it solely for Darius Racing.
Satisfied faces among the winners
One of the most successful owners of recent years is Eckhart Sauren, president of the Cologne Racing Club. The Derby remains a major goal, and the stallion Lommi could make it possible. His season debut, a close second to Gostam, offers hope, and last year he won the Group III Duke of Ratibor race at the end of the season. “We are very satisfied,” said trainer Henk Grewe. The same is true for trainer Marcel Weiß, who trains for the Turffighter Peace of Japan stable. “We arrived with a good feeling and hope to leave with one too,” said Weiß before the race. He would be proven right.
