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profile waldgeist
“We had two Montjeu colts in our draft in Deauville in 2009,” adds Dollar. “I remember the Coolmore team asking us to walk the
pair around the yard together. In the end Coolmore didn’t bid on Masked Marvel and, once he had reached his reserve, the only real interest came from Jeremy Brummit, who bought him for Bjorn Nielsen.”
Klaus Jacobs died shortly afterwards, before the Montjeu colt reached the racecourse and when Waldmark was only just in-foal to Germany’s top stallion Monsun.
“Masked Marvel was a top racehorse,” Dollar remembers. “His St Leger win was a big moment for the stud – it was not our first Group 1 winner, but it was the first Classic.
“The following year I used to go regularly to John Gosden’s to watch Nathaniel, our new purchase, work and every time he was beaten easily by Masked Marvel.
“For some reason Masked Marvel didn’t reproduce his best on the racecourse at four, but in the mornings he was still very good indeed.”
WALDLERCHE went
to the Arqana sale in August 2010, a filly from Monsun’s €150,000 crop. At that point her dam had produced four foals, but only one minor Compiegne winner, Gifted Icon.
“Waldlerche was a correct yearling even if she was big and a little plain,” Dollar continues. “She was like so many of the family, just not one of the pretty little oil paintings people are looking for at yearling sales.
“I think if we offered the fillies from
this family as broodmares everyone would understand and would want to buy them, but as yearlings they are not what the market values.”
In the end, von Boetticher bought half of her in partnership with Newsells to go into training with Fabre.
Waldlerche was a good racehorse. She won her only start at two and a Group 3 over 1m2f on her seasonal debut at three.
She had some problems afterwards and only made two more starts finishing fourth in a Group 3 and then second in a Listed on her final start.
“Andreas Jacobs, who’d taken over responsibility for Newsells from his father, was in South Africa that winter at the same time as Christy Grassick,” explains Dollar.
“Waldgeist was an amazingly tough and sound horse.
It will be a long time before we breed another one as good as he was!
Waldlerche would go to Galileo and the yearling would go into training with Fabre for a partnership between Coolmore, Newsells and Ammerland.”
The foal turned out to be Waldgeist.
Like his dam and grand-dam Waldgeist won on his two-year-old debut before surpassing both of them by winning the Group 1 Criterium de Saint Cloud beating Best Solution and Capri, who both went on to be multiple Group 1 winners.
At three he was probably unlucky not
to win the Prix du Jockey-Club (G1) when he was just impeded for a vital stride or two before losing a short head verdict to Brametot.
Waldgeist made his next start in the
Irish Derby (G1) and his connections were expecting him to improve over the longer trip and to go close to winning.
He finished only fourth behind Capri
and for a few weeks his future was in the balance as various offers from abroad where considered. Next time he raced, beaten in
a Group 3 at Ascot, Waldgeist was owned by a partnership between Ammerland and Newsells alone.
As a four-year-old Waldgeist recovered his verve, at five he was probably better still and his career finished with his come-from- behind victory over Enable, Sottsass and Japan in the Arc.
“Waldgeist was,” Dollar maintains, “an amazingly tough and sound horse. §It will be a long time before we breed another one as good as he was!
“The Arc win was an emotional moment for all of us. He is the grandson of Klaus Jacobs’ favourite mare, from a wonderful German family and a champion. I think if you had told Mr Jacobs back at the beginning of
“And they made a plan together that
Waldlerche: the Newsell Park Stud resident mare is due to leading sire Dubawi this spring
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