Cumani's Second Step Wins Preis von Berlin
Description:
Merry Fox Stud's homebred Second Step ran down pacesetter Ito close to home and landed the Grosser Preis von Berlin (Ger-I) in his first start at the top level Aug. 9 at Hoppegarten.
Second Step, a 4-year-old son of Dalakhani, halted Ito's three-race win streak when hard ridden through the stretch to overtake that rival in the closing strides, winning by three-quarters of a length. Nutan, winner of the German Derby (Ger-I) last time out, was another three-quarters of a length back in third as the 6-4 favorite.
Ridden by Jamie Spencer for Newmarket-based trainer Luca Cumani, Second Step covered 2,400 meters (about 1 1/2 miles) in 2:28.60 on good turf. He posted his second win from three starts this year and fifth overall from nine career starts.
Two starts back, Second Step won the Dunaden at Overbury Jockey Club Stakes (Eng-II) in May and entered Sunday's race off a close second in the Princess of Wales's Arqana Racing Club Stakes (Eng-II) in July, both at Newmarket at the Berlin distance.
The Sadler's Wells mare My Dark Rosaleen is the dam of Irish-bred Second Step. This is the same family as French Derby (Fr-I) winner Sanglamore, Mile Championship (Jpn-I) victor Eishin Apollon, and United Arab Emirates group I winner Master of Hounds.