GERMANY’S NEXT SUPER SIRE?

Soldier Hollow is clearly a very useful sire, but Gestut Auenquelle’s son of In The Wings is beginning to look like a worthy successor to Monsun as Germany’s leading international stallion.

The weekend of June 8/9 confirmed that his small second crop of 25 three year olds looks like matching the exploits of his first crop,  which is headed by the German Derby and Prix Ganay winner Pastorius and the Group 1 placed Kassiano.

Soldier Hollow is the sire of the ante post favourites for both the German Derby and the German Oaks. In Berlin on Sunday June 8 his daughter Ars Nova was an impressive winner of the Group 2 Diana Trial over 2000 metres, stepping up on her previous useful form over shorter trips to look like a potential Classic winner. Earlier the same day a colt called Khalid won a conditions race by 4 lengths which was a significant pointer to the chances of the current Derby favourite Ivanhowe, a Gestut Schlenderhan owned colt who had looked very good when beating Khalid easily in Cologne on May 20. Ivanhowe is due to run the Group 2 Oppenheil-Union-Rennen on June 16.

Soldier Hollow produced 75 foals in his first two crops of which 15 (20%) have already achieved an international rating of 95 or higher,  4(8%) a rating of 110 or higher, and 10 (13%) are black type performers.   These are already excellent figures and it will only need several of his promising three year olds like Ivanhowe, Windsor or Illusion to confirm and he will not be far from matching Monsun’s brilliant first two crops which from 65 foals included 18 (28%) rated 95 or higher and 7 (11%) rated 110 or higher.

The Haras de Saint Pair’s maiden mare Monblue, a stakes winning daughter of Monsun, was covered by Soldier Hollow in 2013.