Cinematic performance of Mr Hollywood in the Wettstar.de – Bavarian Classic

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Grewe's 501st victory in the Munich Derby preliminary test

With a performance worthy of a film, the three-year-old stallion Mr Hollywood won the most important race of the day at the season opener at the race track in Munich-Riem. The Wettstar.de – Bavarian Classic is one of the major preliminary tests for the German Derby, the most important horse race in Germany.

The 2,000m competition for three-year-old horses has prize money of 55,000 euros, 32,000 euros of which goes to the winning team alone. It is a race in the European category Group III and is therefore important from a sporting and breeding perspective.

The season opener in Riem was well attended with around 4,500 spectators despite the adverse weather forecast. “Our advertising measures have paid off,” said Sascha Multerer, Managing Director of the Munich Racing Club, with satisfaction. Multerer was also satisfied with the introduction of the V4 bet in Riem, where the aim was to predict the winners of four consecutive races. “We have to show staying power with the V bets; the figures from the USA, for example, show that these bets are popular with the public.” And bets are not just the icing on the cake for visitors, but an important source of income for the racing clubs to finance the event.

And another point for satisfaction: Despite the heavy rain in recent days, there was great praise for the condition of the Riemer track. “It is without question the best in Germany,” said jockey Martin Seidl, who rode two winners in his old home. He won the first race of the 2023 season with the three-year-old Look At Me (1.7:1) just ahead of Leona Playa after a photo finish. For his trainer Andreas Suborics, Seidl also won the Handicap III over 2,000m with the four-year-old Felippo (3.4:1).

Success for the Ammerland Stud

“We saw a strong race with good horses,” said Multerer after the Bavarian Classic. Mr Hollywood, trained by Henk Grewe, won convincingly with a lead of five lengths ahead of the co-favorite Alpenjäger and the locally trained Fantastic Moon. “He was still a bit green on the way, but he is a very good horse,” said winning jockey Lukas Delozier. For the win, a one euro stake paid three euros back.
Mr Hollywood is owned by Sebastian Weiss and Wanja Sören Oberhof, he was bred by the Bavarian Ammerland stud farm, and the horse’s father is the former “Galloper of the Year”, Iquitos. The stallion’s next stop is the Union race in Cologne (Gr.II), after which the Derby is scheduled. There is still a long way to go until July, but things are going extremely well for the Grewe / Delozier team, which was newly formed this year: the Bavarian Classic was already the pair’s third group win in the fresh season.

Michael Figge opens the Riemer Reigen

The first victory for the Munich training center in Riem was not long in coming at the season opening, and it happened in the second race of the day: The Andreas Tiedtke Memorial, in honor of the multi-functional figure in German horse racing who died last year, was won by the mare Gambia Sun, trained by Michael Figge, ahead of her stablemate Northern Starlet. The favored stallion Lucanas came third in the test for three-year-old horses over 2,000 m.

Winning rider Adrie de Vries waited a long time before attacking Gambia Sun (12.3:1) and won easily by two lengths in the end. “She finally showed what she can do,” said Figge. “I’ve had guts for her for a long time.” The big goal for the season is the Prize of Diana, the half-million-euro fillies’ derby (Gr.I) in Düsseldorf in August. “I don’t know how we’ll get there yet, maybe she’ll run in France first or in a Diana preliminary test.”

The best handicap of the day, a Handicap II over 2,000m with prize money of 13,000 euros, was won by the four-year-old Lordano for trainer Marcel Weiß and jockey Rene Piechulek.