Fortune favours the brave as Fire And Ice becomes Classic contender for Stauffenberg Bloodstock

The decision of Marion and Philipp Stauffenberg to roll the dice and put their homebred Masar half-sister to Deutsches Derby winner Fantastic Moon into training could yet be rewarded with further Classic glory as Fire And Ice impressed when winning at Hoppegarten on Sunday morning.

Now a three-year-old, Fire And Ice was making her debut in the 2,000m contest for fillies and is trained, like her elder half-brother, by Sarah Steinberg. Sent off second favourite for the race, the steel grey filly was settled in midfield by Rene Piecheluk who was also in the saddle for both of Fantastic Moon's Group 1 triumphs.

Fire and Ice took her time to understand what Piecheluk was asking of her but once she realised, the filly stayed on strongly and was going away from favourite Nurania at the line. That daughter of Camelot also boasts an outstanding pedigree as a half-sister to Group 1 winners Novellist and Magical Lagoon.

Both fillies are entered in the Group 1 Preis der Diana at Dusseldorf in early August with Fire And Ice holding an entry in the Group 3 Diana Trial over the course and distance of her debut win on June 8.

Her owner-breeders made the decision to take Fire And Ice to the Goffs Orby Sale in the year that Fantastic Moon earned his Group 1 breakthrough but the market didn't value the filly as strongly as her breeders did and she was unsold at €470,000.

Now she is a half-sister to a dual Group 1 winner and is herself a Classic contender so the bold decision to retain her and put her in training looks like paying off handsomely.

Frangipani dam of Fantastic Moon and Fire And Ice at Tattersalls last DecemberCredit: Ally Murphy

Having sold Fantastic Moon's dam Frangipani last December, carrying a full-sibling to the dual Group 1 winner, the couple are keen to bring her daughters home to their base at Gestut Ittlingen. At Arqana's February Sale, Stauffenberg went to €100,000 to buy Fang Mich, the Starspangledbanner four-year-old half-sister to Fantastic Moon and Fire And Ice from Karwin Farm.

A winner at three in Dresden for Eckhard Sauren and Henk Grewe, Fang Mich had been acquired by Karwin Farm for €80,000 at Arqana last summer.

Fantastic Moon was a Group winner at two, three and four and the son of Sea The Moon cost considerably less than his half-sisters when coming under the hammer as a yearling. He was snapped up for €49,000 by Liberty Racing at the BBAG September Sale and is now in his first season at Gestut Ebbesloh.

His exploits as a six-time Group winner have enhanced the value of his half-siblings considerably; Juddmonte went to 700,000gns at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale for his Sea The Stars three-parts brother.

Frangipani, a winner at two, made 25,000gns more than her foal just days later. The 11-year-old is a Jukebox Jury half-sister to Scandinavian Group 3 winner Fearless Hunter.

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