Mendocino Wins von Baden; Dettori Given 14-Day Ban

Torquator Tasso  will head for Paris and the defense of his Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) crown off the back of a narrow head defeat to Mendocino  Sept. 4 in the 52nd Wettstar Grosser Preis von Baden (G1).

Jockey @RenePiechulek knows how to beat Torquator Tasso, being his regular rider, and that’s just what he did today in the G1 Großer Preis von Baden with MENDOCINO. G1-level ride. pic.twitter.com/CCZjAfGk8W

— Michael Adolphson (@AdolphsonRacing) September 4, 2022

For an agonizing 10 minutes, it seemed that he would be without Frankie Dettori, whose six strikes with the whip (one over the permitted limit) looked to have cost him any ride in the Arc, let alone such a high-profile one.

Dettori left his audience with the Baden-Baden stewards convinced that he would miss Europe's greatest race after being handed a 14-day suspension, news that sent the usually imperturbable Marcel Weiss, Torquator Tasso's trainer, sprinting up the stairs of the owners' and trainers' lounge in search of his horse's owners.

The first hint that order was to be restored came from the stewards' secretary, followed shortly by Dettori himself, who had learned his suspension would run until the Saturday of the Arc meeting.

"I got it wrong, it's starting Sunday," said a relieved Dettori, who will nonetheless miss the whole of Newmarket's Cambridgeshire meeting.

"We knew it was going to be a falsely run race, that's why I kicked at the 800 (meter mark), to make a race of it. It's not his style. He needs soft ground and horses stopping in front of him.

Dettori said: "(Torquator Tasso) got a turn of foot with a good gallop but today the turn of foot was in the straight. If we go to France, get soft ground and a strongly run race, we'll be in business, but today we went too slow—he wasn't beaten far today."

"He didn't run that bad but he needs a race to suit his style, not one with four runners. I did everything I could to make a race of it."

IDEE 153rd Deutsches Derby (G1) winner Sammarco  showed a good turn of foot in the steadily run race to sweep to the front after the bend but was caught by both the winner and Torquator Tasso before the line to check in third.

The opportunity to ride Torquator Tasso opened up because regular rider Rene Piechulek, who won the Arc last year, is retained by Mendocino's 90-year-old owner, Hans-Gerd Wernicke.

With an entry in the Arc already next to his name, Mendocino brought a trip to Paris much closer in running down Torquator Tasso, a fact not lost on the connections of the runner-up.

Dettori's immediate post-race debrief to the press was joined by Gestut Auenquelle's Karl-Dietrich Ellebracke, who asked of his jockey: "What do you think about him?"

Dettori's reply will have been reassuring to Ellebracke, who must already have been resigned to not having Piechulek available Oct. 2.

"When we go to France with soft ground and a strong pace, we'll be in business. If Rene's horse runs, I'm free and we're done," said Dettori, the two men concluding with a handshake.

Although the difference between winning and losing the prep race was just a head, Paddy Power eased Torquator Tasso to 10-1 (from 13-2) for the Arc.

For Weiss, the test will be how his horse of a lifetime reacts to such a hard race when he returns to the turf gallops in Mulheim in the build-up to what will almost certainly be his final race.

This was undoubtedly a career best from Mendocino, having last year finished second to Alpinista , the golden thread that runs through all of Germany's middle-distance form.

"(Torquator Tasso) had a long break for three months, and with just three runners in the race, I wanted to sit last," said Piechulek. "We were not in the same condition as the others, that's why I wanted to sit last and then try and pick them off as they came back to me."

Piechulek paid tribute to his mount and to Mendocino's trainer, Sarah Steinberg, who struck at group 1 level for the first time in Germany's biggest all-aged race.

"She rides him every day and she really knows him, whereas I just sat on him for his final two pieces of work," he said.

As for what may transpire in four weeks' time at Longchamp, Piechulek was firm as to his commitments, if not Mendocino's chances in the Arc.

"I have to ride him, I'm in a contract with the owner, which is why I rode him today," said Piechulek. "We will see (about the Arc). That was a hard race after three months off, so we will see how he comes out of it."

Dettori was making a long-overdue return to Baden-Baden after a decade away. It won't be among his fondest memories of this corner of Germany, but he escaped with his dreams of a seventh Arc intact, though only just.