Group-race glory for Torquator Tasso's half-brother Tunnes

Tunnes put the seal on an extraordinary year for breeder Paul Vandeberg and broodmare Tijuana when taking the final Group race of the European year in Germany on Sunday.

At the moment, the colt's half-brother is rather better known. Torquator Tasso was the surprise winner of last month's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, having been sold to Gestüt Auenquelle for €24,000 as a yearling at Baden-Baden.

Although Torquator Tasso had been second in the German Derby, he had not begun his Group-winning spree by the time Tunnes entered the ring at BBAG last October and the chestnut was bought by Holger Renz for a reasonable €38,000.

He has quickly gone through the grades for the Peter Schiergen stable and showed plenty of grit to get the better of a duel with Ariolo in the Grosser Preis der Wohnstatte Krefeld-Herzog von Ratibor-Rennen.

A two-year-old, Tunnes is also the first stakes or Group winner in the two small crops of his sire, Guiliani, who has been standing at Gestut Erftmuhle for a fee of €3,000. Baron von Ullman's close relative to Getaway won the 2015 Grosser Dallmayr-Preis.

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