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profile waldgeist
Newsells that within 20 years he would win the Arc with such a horse, he would have been thrilled.”
Coffey agrees saying: “Waldgeist was a horse with a great turn of foot and one who never gave up. And as far as I am aware
he never took a lame step during his four seasons with Fabre – we seriously considered
k
“We certainly believe in him as a sire,” adds Dollar, “and we will be sending him four or five mares this spring.”
After Waldlerche, Waldmark produced two non-winners by Manduro, a colt and 2011 filly named Bright Beacon, whose first foal named Al Dabaran was a Listed winner and Group- placed at two in 2019.
She was followed by Waldnah, a New Approach filly, who won a Listed race for Newsells and has been retained as a mare.
Waldmark was then barren for five years before producing a 2017 Frankel filly called Waldfabel, who is in training with John Gosden, and a Sea The Stars colt in 2019 who Dollar describes as “really, really nice”.
Waldlerche, meanwhile, has produced
the Group 2-winning filly Waldlied, the very useful Sea The Stars colt Waldstern, who died in a training accident before he had the chance to fulfill his potential, followed by the Kingman colt Waldkonig. Her 2018 Galileo filly has gone into training with Fabre.
Waldlerche is currently in-foal to Dubawi and will return to Galileo again in 2020.
“We were,” recalls Dollar, “very surprised there was not more interest in Waldkonig when he went to the October Book 1 Sale as a yearling. I thought he was a crackerjack, a bit on the leggy side perhaps, but with so much quality and so athletic.”
In the ring the only person interested at 600,000gns was co-breeder von Boetticher, who was happy to let Newsells retain 25 per cent share in the colt.
“Waldkonig didn’t go into Gosden’s main yard until August,” Coffey explains.
“Mr Gosden has always liked him and was very keen to get a run into him at two to give him the experience.”
At Wolverhampton in December, Waldkonig beat his ten rivals very easily, winning eased down by 9l.
A maiden at Wolverhampton does not
“We certainly believe in Waldgeist as a
sire and we will be sending him four or five mares this spring
often lead on to the best races, but given
the recent history of this family and the combination of speed and stamina Waldkonig displayed in the extended mile on this racing debut, everything is still possible.
To return to Ravensberg and its “W” family Waldrun, who started the dynasty and its forest or “wald” names, produced a Deutsches Derby winner Wildere in 1958, as well as the dam of another, Waidwerk, in 1965.
The family returned to prominence
with Wurftaube in 1996 and, if it is her direct descendants who have made a real mark, other recent winners
from the family include the Group 1 winners Wake Forest and Wonderment.
Wurftaube, who died in 2019 at the age of 26, produced
the 2011 Deutsches Derby winner Waldpark (Dubawi) and her first four daughters have already produced international stakes
horses.
Her first foal Waldbeere, a full-sister to Waldmark, is owned by Gestüt Brummerhof and although she never raced has already produced three black-type winners headed by the Shamardal gelding Waldpfad, a Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed in England in 2019.
She has an unraced three-year-old Kingman colt called Waldkonigin in training with Dominic Moser.
Wurftaube’s 2002 daughter of Halling, Waldblume, has produced a Sea The Moon filly Waldblumchen. She came out of a claimer to finish third in a Listed at ParisLongchamp in 2019.
And then Waldjagd, a Group-placed daughter of Observatory owned by the Haras de Saint Pair, has produced Urwald, the winner of a Listed race at ParisLongchamp in 2019 and who stays in training at four in 2020.
The concept of female families is one which has little sense in the commercial breeding world outside Germany, and yet the history of the Ravensberg “W” family more than suggests that thoroughbred dynasties can exist.
The descendants of one mare have kept Ravensberg competitive in the best races for 70 years now and although there are,
of course, many ordinary descendants of Waldrun too, Waldlerche, born some 60
years later, has to be one of the best mares based in
Europe today.
The next generation: Waldpfad, a grandson of Wurftaube, winning the Group 2 Hackwood Stakes
Ieeping him in training as a six-year-old.”
N THE END the partners von Boetticher and Newsells decided Waldgeist deserved to have his chance as a stallion and he was retired to Ballylinch.
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