Family fortunes

Michael Andree’s Gestüt Römerhof is reaping the rewards of long term loyalty to a pedigree with Alenquer’s top-class middle-distance performances this year

ALENQUER is clearly one of the best middle-distance colts of his generation. The MM Stables-owned son of Adlerflug has run only five times to date, but his three wins include a Group 2 and a Group 3 and in those races he has beaten impressively the Derby winner Adayar and Lone Eagle, who came within a few strides of winning the Irish Derby. Last time out, on his first venture into Group 1 company, he finished third in the Grand Prix de Paris.

The William Haggas-trained colt is already an excellent example of the quality of middle-distance horses produced by German breeders. Sadly, his sire died earlier this year at only 17 but he was well on the way to persuading international breeders that he was one of the leading middle-distance sires in Europe.

Alenquer was bred in France by Michael Andree, whose family’s Gestüt Römerhof is close to Cologne and only 20kms from Gestüt Schlenderhan where Adlerflug was bred and stood from 2017 to his death.

This year’s three-year-olds are the first conceived at Schlenderhan as Adlerflug spent seven years covering small books of mares at Gestüt Harzburg before his success brought him back to his home stud.

His 47 three-year-olds already include Alenquer and three other blacktype winners and a total of eight black-type performers is a better percentage to live foals than among many leading sires, including Frankel and Dubawi.

“If he had lived,” continues Andree, “Adlerflug might even have ended up with a profile similar to Monsun’s.

“They both had to make their own reputation, but unfortunately Adlerflug left us before he could make the most of his new international standing. He was an electric type of horse, always on edge and perhaps it is not surprising he should have died so suddenly.

“I knew his dam Aiyana and she, too, was very electric. He is a great loss for German breeding, he has winners every day and runners in all of the best races now.’

Adlerflug was a son of In The Wings out of a Last Tycoon mare from the family of Urban Sea, and so a German-bred Deutsches Derby winner with an international pedigree.

There are around 20 yearlings and foals by him, as well as a handful of in-foal mares.

Andree has been running Gestüt Römerhof for 20 years having spent most of the previous 20 years working for Coolmore Stud in Ireland.

Römerhof was founded by the Berlin banker Georg von Bleichröder in 1894 and quickly became one of the leading studs in Europe, however, Bleichröder died in 1902 and his family sold the farm to the Prussian National Stud Gestüt Gradiz in 1905. “At the time all those yearlings came to Römerhof and stayed here until April as two-year-olds when they were sent into training at Hoppegarten in Berlin,” explains Andree.

“After WW1, Römerhof became a base for the British army in Germany and then went through several different owners and tenants until it was taken over by the local state government after WW2. The government was considering closing the place down and building over it when my parents managed to buy it in 1955.”

The Andree family has been raising horses for themselves and clients on the farm ever since, as well as standing stallions including horses such as Platini, Mamool and Thewayyouare in recent times.

There are no stallions on the farm today, but between 25 and 30 mares are based there, while some of the original stud is leased to Rolf Harzheim’s Gestüt Bona.

“Among other clients we have ten mares for Jurgen Imm,” says Andree. “He has a total of 20 and the others are with Joe Hernon at Castletown in Ireland. “His horses include the leading German three-year-old and another son of Adlerflug, Alter Adler.”

Alter Adler finished a gallant second in the Deutsches Derby having looked the likely winner at the top of the straight. He finished only a length and a quarter behind the winner Sisafahan.

“We were very pleased with his run,” Andree says, “but look forward to taking on the winner again at either Berlin or Baden- Baden.”

Andree started working at Coolmore in 1978 the second year of operation and continued working for the stud on and off for some 20 years.

“There was a wonderful article in the Racing Post recently about the early days of Coolmore which brought back many memories,” Andre expands.

“When I started there were only three barns and an office. John Magnier used to come and have breakfast with us and ask endless questions such as ‘tell me Michael who is that mare and which is that foal?’

“He knew the answers, of course, but wanted to make sure that we did too.

“He used to say ‘you take good care of that mare now Michael!’

“When you consider what Coolmore has become today it is some achievement and of course it has been entirely self-financed.”

Alenquer may be the first Adlerflug to make a mark in England, but his maternal family has already had success at a high level as it includes Gestüt Röttgen’s Wild Coco, who won several Group races for Sir Henry Cecil.

If you manage to chose the right one a thoroughbred maternal family can supply you with high-class racehorses for a long time.

Andree first became aware of this line when his associate Albert Steigenberger bought an Ela Mana Mou yearling filly from Airlie Stud in Ireland in 1986 for £IR10,000.

She was named Win Hands Down and went into training with Bruno Schütz. On paper she was only Listed placed, but she had plenty of ability and finished fifth in the Preis der Diana and sixth in the Deutsches Derby.

She is the third dam of Wild Coco and through her daughter Wild Romance the founder of the Röttgen branch of the family.

COUPLE OF YEARS later after buying the daughter, Andree bought Wins Hands Down’s dam, the Habitat mare Waitotara, from Airlie Stud. She was in-foal to King Of Clubs.

The subsequent filly named Waytowin went on to become a leading two-year-old in Germany finishing second in a Group 2.

The following year Andree sold Waitotara in-foal to Entitled at a sale in Northern Germany. When she was 23, Waitotara produced a filly by Turtle Island called Wind In Her Hair.

She was unraced, but produced five foals, including a two-year-old Listed winner and in 2012 the Areion mare Wild Blossom, who won a race at a mile and whom Andree bought at the end of her racing career.

Her first foal was a Thewayyouare filly called Winsome Belle, who died after finishing second on her only start. After her second covering by the local sire Adlerflug to produce Alenquer, Andree decided to send her to France.

She has since had a filly by Zarak. Now a two-year-old she is called Wild Lily and is in training in Deauville with Stephane Wattel. She has also got a yearling colt by Galiway, who was bought by Edouard de Rothschild for €100,000 at the Arqana December Sale, and a colt foal by The Grey Gatsby.

Wild Blossom is now in-foal to Siyouni.

“Edouard is happy with his colt and did call me to ask whether he could buy the dam!” Andree says. “I have, of course, had other enquiries too, but she is just not for sale.” Andree keeps Wild Blossom at La Motteraye and has also Wilde Perle, who comes from the same maternal family as a daughter of Platini and Wild Romance, owned in partnership with Guillaume Vitse of Normandie Breeding.

“Wild Blossom is a medium-sized, well-made mare,” says Lucie Lamotte of La Motteraye. “All of Wild Blossom’s progeny have been very athletic; they all have a great walk and like many in the family they seem to be precocious – after all not many Adlerflug colts have been Listed-placed at two like Alenquer.”

FOR ANDREE, as for many others in German racing and breeding, the French premium system is simply too attractive to ignore. Numerous German breeders and owners keep mares and horses in France to take advantage of the prize-money and the premiums, while in the first half of 2021 German trainers sent over horses to win around a 100 races in France.

Alenquer was born and raised at La Motteraye, but he is not qualified for French premiums as he was offered for sale as a foal at Arqana and bought by Gerry Burke of Glidawn Stud for €18,000.

A horse born in France has to remain in the country until June 1 of its yearling year to qualify for the incentives and Alenquer spent his yearling year at Glidawn in Ireland.

“I would rather have a good horse than one with premiums!” laughs Andree.

“Gerry does a great job with his horses. I was surprised when he told me he was going to take the colt to the October Book 1 Sale at Tattersalls, but he was proved right when the horse sold 80,000gns bought by Armando Duarte.”

This year Römerhof will offer two yearling colts by Cracksman and Lawman at the BBAG September Sale in Baden-Baden, and they will be consigned by Ronald Rauscher.

“I shall prepare them at home, but Ronald has long since taken over the boxes we used to have at the sale and so it is easier to let him present them,” Andree laughs.

Andree is a member of the board of the sales company and is as cautiously optimistic about this year’s sale as current circumstances permit.

“At this stage,” he says, “we look like having an excellent catalogue with yearlings by Frankel, Sea The Stars and other top international stallions.

“We cannot be entirely sure what the pandemic situation will be in September, but there are several things coming into line.

“It is easier than ever to get to Baden- Baden with the airport and high-speed train hub next door in Strasbourg and the racecourse is now under new management and will have four days racing during the week of the sale.”

Alenquer has further big race targets to promote Römerhof and German breeding, and there are several of the BBAG sales graduates racing with success in Britain and international races, including Godolphin’s Listed winner Wirko and other three-yearolds like Lord Protector and Classic Lord, as well as older horses Axana and Kaspar.