The German racing hubs
The most important training centre is around Cologne, and the directional body of German racing is located in that city. Around 350 horses are in training in the Ruhr Valley, but here at Iffezheim we have around 200, based with nine different trainers. This is a fine number, though we're constantly trying to improve the figure.
Importantly, Germany's most notable races are here at Baden-Baden, and our sales take place alongside those meetings. We have three in-person sales through the year. The spring breeze-ups are in May, the premier yearling sale is a couple of days before the Grosser Preis von Baden, and we have sales after racing in October. At the moment, we're cataloguing yearlings for the September sale, and entries are outstanding. We even have the final crop of prodigy from Adlerflug, who died three years ago, but still has some mares in foal.
Our international outlook
Over the last twelve years, we've bred two winners of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe... and luckily both of those winners (Danedream and Torquato Tasso) were sold at this complex! Since those two horses, our sales have taken on an international focus, with great results around the world. We have many foreign vendors selling here, and our premier yearling sale welcomes clients from America, Japan and Australia.
Unfortunately, Germany is very low on foal births. Last year, there were just 750 foals born here, and I think many US states have ten times that figure. Out of this very small foal crop, however, we keep producing Group One winners on an international basis, so the prize value German breeders have is outstanding.
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