German-Australian partnership over the Moon with Derby victory

An introduction first planted with a runner-up finish in the German Derby has, four years later, blossomed into a fully fledged German-Australian partnership which claimed victory in the European Classic on Sunday. 

Fantastic Moon, a three-year-old colt by Sea The Moon, came with a surging finish on the stands’ side of the Hamburg track to claim an emphatic two-and-a-quarter-length win in the 154th German Derby for trainer Sarah Steinberg and Liberty Racing; a club set up in 2020 by Lars-Wilhelm Baumgarten, and which has included within it a select group of Australian clients of bloodstock agent Suman Hedge. 

Hedge first met Baumgarten, a successful Bundesliga sporting agent and a member of the board of betting company Pferdwetten.de, within the ownership of Django Freeman, who finished an agonising second in the 2019 edition of the German Derby, before his export to Australia. Baumgarten was one of the few German-based owners to remain in the horse. 

Further wins did not materialise for Django Freeman but a curiosity and fascination on the part of both Hedge and Baumgarten resulted in the establishment of Liberty Racing, which is boasting an extraordinarily successful strike-rate in its infancy with four stakes winners from just seven horses to race in their blue and orange-tri-spotted silks. 

Lars Baumgarten: set up Liberty Racing in 2020Credit: www.marcruehl.com

“Through Django Freeman, Lars and I developed a bit of a friendship and he had an idea to try and make racing a little more accessible to a wider group of people in Germany. Typically, it’s the breeders and a couple of big owners there,” Hedge told ANZ Bloodstock News. 

“Through our discussions, we tried to buy some horses together and broker some deals, but we just kept being frustrated, as we were getting beaten on price. We respected Germany because Protectionist had come over and won a Melbourne Cup and a couple of others had done well in Australia. So, we thought there was clearly some staying blood there that could be useful over here, and it was a bit more affordable at the time than other parts of Europe.

“So, we put together a syndicate - a partnership of Australian and German owners - we’d race the horse up until the German Derby and then we’d have a mindset of potentially trading the horse to Australia or send the horse over.”

Hedge has such Australian aspirations for Fantastic Moon, who took his record to four wins from five starts since being purchased for a mere €49,000 from Germany’s Baden-Baden Premier auction, but with he and his Australian clients, which include Tony Kemm, Steve O’Rourke and Paul Nicol, being minority shareholders, a tilt at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in October is emerging as the most likely course of action, a race won by the German-bred Torquator Tasso in 2021.

Celebrations on the weekend were not limited to just Fantastic Moon, as four-year-old Assistent - who has twice escaped a bout of near-fatal colic - also had his German and Australian followers raise their arms with victory in the Grosser Hansa Preis at Hamburg on Saturday. 

The colt, who is also a son of Lanwades Stud stallion Sea The Moon, finished fourth in last year’s German Derby and was destined for Australia before an existing European-based owner increased his equity in the horse.

Niagaro, a €61,000 buy for the partnership, won a Listed contest at Mulheim, while 2021 purchase Winning Spirit, bought for €80,000, is a Listed winner and Italian Derby runner-up, who finished fourth in the Derby on Sunday. 

Weston, who was purchased by Gordon Elliott for €240,000 last November after an initial yearling price of €75,000, raced at Royal Ascot last month in the Ascot Stakes, finishing fifth. 

In the wake of their Group 1 success Hedge, who professes to playing only a ‘minor’ role in the selection of the horses, will have conversations with Baumgarten about further cementing the Australian participation of the horses. 

“It was a fairly dominant win from Fantastic Moon and I think their ambition would be to get to a race like [the Arc]. But, if not, we’d love to bring him over. It will really be dependent on the trainer and where she sees the horse. They think he’s quite untapped and that he’s really, very, very good. He’s an ideal horse to be set for the Arc,” Hedge said.

“We’ve been really happy with how it’s gone. We’re in discussions now to maybe reshape it a little bit, to have an Australian partnership with a definitive view to shipping the horse over to Australia. 

“It’s in the embryonic stages, but if that doesn’t come about, we’ll just continue as we are and take a small share in their partnership.”

Recent German-bred successes in Australia, in addition to the Australian Bloodstock-owned Protectionist, include fellow Melbourne Cup scorer Almandin, Group 2 winner Sound and Master Of Wine, the winner of the Sky High Stakes, while Hedge has also brought Schabau to Australia from Germany, striking in the Roy Higgins Stakes among four wins Down Under. 

It is a staying prowess that has not gone unnoticed with Hedge, who relates the development of the German breed to that of Japan, which has developed a laser focus for nurturing staying pedigrees and talent. 

"I think what Germany is doing is quite authentic. They’ve been very careful with the breed itself."Credit: Catrin Nack

The bloodstock agent is planning a possible trip to the Baden-Baden sales, which this year will have its yearling auction on September 1, with a view to further adding to the Liberty Racing portfolio for his clients. 

“I’m very tempted to head to this German sale this year. We tend to get beaten up a bit when we go to some of these other sales, the likes of Fasig-Tipton and Tattersalls etc,” Hedge said. “I need to find a rich Sheikh or someone from China!

“Germany had typically been a bit of a poor cousin, but I think the fact they’ve focused on staying blood and have been very methodical about keeping and nurturing those staying bloodlines, very similar to Japan, they just have a different mindset. 

“In Australia, we’re super commercial where everything is about quick returns and it’s all a bit transactional. I don’t think it’s very good for the breed, but it’s very good at producing precocity and speed. 

“I think what Germany is doing is quite authentic. They’ve been very careful with the breed itself, in minding against ‘roarers’ and I think there’s a lot to be said for that, as they’re quite a force in producing staying horses now.”

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