Campanologist: won his second Group 1 in Germany this season

  PICTURE: Mark Cranham  

Dettori misses out as Campanologist strikes

Report: Germany, Sunday

Cologne: Rheinland-Pokal (Group 1) 1m4f, 3yo+

GODOLPHIN'S Campanologist (Saeed Bin Suroor/Adrie de Vries) landed his second Group 1 win of the season in Germany when ploughed through the mud and rain to land the Rheinland-Pokal at Cologne.

Four weeks ago, the five-year-old landed his first Group 1 in the Grosser Preis von Lotto Hamburg at the German Derby winner.

Adrie de Vries: supersub for Dettori

 

However, Frankie Dettori missed out on this occasion when his flight to Dusseldorf was delayed and then he got snarled up in a long tailback on the motorway following a crash on the 25-mile taxi ride to the course, which meant that he never made it to Cologne.

Adrie de Vries was the man to benefit, picking up a winning spare ride aboard the 2-1 second favourite after his intended mount, last year's German Derby winner Wiener Walzer, was withdrawn owing to the testing conditions.

Indeed, the heavy ground meant that Titurel was also withdrawn, leaving just five runners.

De Vries played a waiting game on Campanologist as Norwegian-trained Appel Au Maitre, the only member of the field to have previously shown a liking for a soft surface, cut out the running under Fredrik Johannson.

Moving around the outside, Campanologist took up the running approaching the two-furlong pole but was immediately challenged by the even-money favourite, Zazou, who slipped up theinside and was travelling best of all.

Zazou, though, had shown when runner-up to Godolphin's Buzzword in the German Derby that his stamina is stretched by this 1m4f trip and so proved once more.

Campanolgist drew right away in the final furlong to score by three and a half lengths and Zazou tied up so badly that he was caught for second right on the line by Appel Au Maitre.

Winningtrainer Saeed Bin Suroor said: "We weren't sure if Campanologist would go on the ground but he seemed to like it. The jockey gave him a great ride - I asked him to get him relaxed and running sweetly and he did just that."

Apart from the Andre Fabre-trained Cutlass Bay in the Prix Ganay, all Godolphin's Group 1 triumphs this term have been achieved in Germany.

"We will quitelikely bring him back to Germany for the Grosser Preis von Baden [on September 5]," added Bin Suroor.

"Everything went like a dream," de Vries beamed afterwards. "We were always going well and when I asked him to go he picked up like a class horse."

Appel Au Maitre's trainer Wido Neuroth said: "Appel Au Maitre ran a really good race. We can't run him in the summer as he gets an allergy but now that the weather has turned he is back to form and the Preis von Europa and Stockholm Cup are next on his agenda."

Zazou is now likely to run in the Prix Dollar over 1m2f at Longchamp on October 2.