Ivanhowe Upsets Sea The Moon in Germany
Description:
Gestut Schlenderhan's Ivanhowe delivered a stunning first defeat to star colt Sea The Moon in the Grosser Preis von Baden (Ger-I) Sept. 7 at Baden-Baden.
Ivanhowe settled toward the back of the 11-horse field as favorite Sea The Moon took charge after the first furlong. The winner unleashed a powerful rally into the stretch and stormed up the stands side rail with jockey Filip Minarik, catching Sea The Moon inside the final furlong and easily dispatching him en route to a decisive three-length triumph.
Sea the Moon, a scintillating 11-length victor in the German Derby (Ger-I) last time out to stay unbeaten in four career starts, held for second under Cristian Demuro, two lengths in front of third-place finisher Night Wish.
Ivanhowe covered 2,400 meters (about 1 1/2 miles) in 2:36.30 on good turf. He earned an automatic, fees-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Turf (gr. IT) this fall at Santa Anita Park via the Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" series.
Leading up to the Grosser Preis von Baden, trainer Markus Klug cautioned that Sea The Moon might not be at the top of his game. Sea the Moon had slight setback after the German Derby, Klug noted, adding that the main goal was for the colt to be in peak condition for the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fr-I) this fall at Longchamp.
Niko Lafrentz, whose family races the son of Sea The Stars as a homebred, told Racing Post the colt is still on track for the Arc after making his first try against older rivals.
"We're totally satisfied with his run today," he said of Sea The Moon, the 1-2 favorite.
Ivanhowe, a lightly raced 4-year-old son of Soldier Hollow trained by Jean-Pierre Carvalho, improved his record to 4-1-0 from seven career starts, including victories in the Gerling Preis (Ger-II) in May and the 2013 Oppenheim-Union-Rennen (Ger-II). He came into the Grosser Preis von Baden after finishing sixth behind Spiritjim in the Grand Prix de Chantilly (Fr-II) in June.
A German-bred, Ivanhowe is out of 2005 German Oaks (Ger-II) third-place finisher Indigo Girl, by Sternkoenig.