'Rene is worth his weight in gold' - Arc-winning jockey Piechulek lands Deutsches Derby on Fantastic Moon

Arc-winning rider Rene Piechulek added another Group 1 to his CV with victory aboard Fantastic Moon in the Deutsches Derby at Hamburg.

The winner of the Group 3 Derby-Trial at Baden-Baden in May, Fantastic Moon was held up and had just three rivals behind him entering the straight.

Mr Hollywood burst between Sirjan and the Ralph Beckett-trained If Not Now to lead in the final two furlongs, but was picked up late by the winner, who scored by two and a quarter lengths and emulated his sire Sea The Moon, who powered to a wide-margin triumph in 2014.

Piechulek said: "I didn't really want to go that far back, but he was so relaxed and switching him off was probably the key to success." 

It was a first victory in the German Classic for Piechulek, and his partner and winning trainer Sarah Steinberg, who said: "It's unbelievable, the horse has such a big heart. We always had some doubts about whether he would be able to go the distance because he is very keen during his races."

"I'm really happy for Sarah, she puts so much heart and soul into her work," Piechulek added about his partner, who returned the compliment, saying: "Rene is worth his weight in gold for me as a partner and in training."

If Not Now could not trouble the leaders at the finish but kept on for fifth, while the Jessica Harrington-trained Pivotal Trigger came home just behind him in sixth.

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