Fantastic weekend for Sea The Moon continues in Deutsches Derby

Fantastic Moon’s spectacular performance in Sunday’s Deutsches Derby was eerily similar to that of Sea The Moon’s as he emulated the German Classic achievement of his sire, nine years on.

Gestut Gorlsdorf’s Sea The Moon earned his place at Lanwades Stud after his Hamburg heroics, where he made most of the running under Christophe Soumillon but crossed right over the track to the stands’ rail turning for home and still won by 11 lengths.

The difference here was that his son was a little headstrong and restrained at the rear of the field when Rene Piechulek made the same manoeuvre, his mount rapidly working his way into top gear when the race appeared to be on the opposite side of the course, eventually coming two and a quarter lengths ahead of Mr Hollywood.

Fantastic Moon was already one of his father’s 15 Group winners but now becomes one of three to have succeeded at the very highest level, along with Coronation Stakes winner Alpine Star and Durston from last year’s Caulfield Cup.

This places the colt into pole position to become a stallion himself, as is nearly always the case on a roll of honour which includes the likes of Acatenango, Lando and Adlerflug, to name but three. Fantastic Moon has also already won the prestigious German two-year-old race, the Preis des Winterfavoriten, and the Group 3 Classic trial at Baden-Baden.

Philipp Stauffenberg and wife Marion bred Fantastic MoonCredit: Alisha Meeder

It was the pinnacle of a magnificent weekend for Sea The Moon, whose exciting three-year-old daughter Muskoka also landed the Group 3 Brummerhofer Stuten-Meile while Saturday’s Group 2 Grosser Hanser Preis was won by his four-year-old son Assistent.

Fantastic Moon now looks an inspired €49,000 purchase by Liberty Racing from his breeders, Marion and Philipp Stauffenberg, at the BBAG September Yearling Sale.

He is the second foal out of Stauffenberg homebred Frangipani, a minor winner in Germany by Jukebox Jury. A half-sister to a Norwegian Group 3 winner, her family goes back to French Guineas runner-up Fruhlingstag, the dam of Philip Mitchell’s globetrotter Running Stag.

Fantastic Moon’s two-year-old half-sister by Starspangledbanner was withdrawn from the Goffs Orby Sale and now, named Fang Mich, she is registered in training with Henk Grewe, while Frangipani also has a yearling filly by Masar.

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