SOAVE IS AS FAST AS EVER

Germany doesn't produce many good sprinters. But SOAVE (40) is certainly one of the few. He bombed home by six lengths in a Listed race at Hannover on his seasonal debut beating some decent rivals. Clearly, though he's now seven years of age, Soave is as fast as ever.

The key to Soave is the ground. He's won on going slower than yielding eight times out of eleven, and has run some smart races in his few defeats (for example when runner-up to Chineur). His connections have been suckered into running him on fast ground in France a few times by the misleading going reports produced over there. And it's worth noting that most pundits blame the penetrometer for this problem. But weirdly, the penetrometer produces very accurate going reports in Germany. I asked a German racing official about this and the only explanation he could come up with is that they use a ten point scale for the penetrometer readings in Germany compared with six in France.

In any event, I'd be wary of opposing Soave on soft ground. In fact I have this fantasy that he'd come over to Britain for a Group 3 sprint run on soft going. Given his age and the fact that he's German I can see him starting at huge odds, but I bet he'd win.

HOW GOOD IS ARCADIO?

Last year ARCADIO (38) started a warm favourite for the German Derby after he'd won the Group 3 Bavarian Classic by no less than 15 lengths. He only ran third in the big race. But his jockey said he didn't get the mile and a half in the soft ground. He reverted to ten furlongs for his only subsequent start of the year in the Group 1 Grosser Dallmayr-Preis at Munich where he finished a length second to the older triple Group 1 winner Soldier Hollow.

On his seasonal debut this term at Hannover Arcadio beat what looked like a soft bunch of rivals in a Listed race. But he did it well in decent time and has run a bit faster in the past. He's only had six races, and that narrow loss to Soldier Hollow stands as his only defeat in four tries at 9-10 furlongs.

Arcadio still has a very tall reputation, which is reflected in his starting price at Hannover of ten to one on.

By the stallion of the moment Monsun out of a mare that's produced five black type runners from six offspring, Arcadio must even now be worth a fair few bob as a stallion. If he starts to live up to his reputation he could be worth a whole lot more. We'll be seeing him in some of the big ten furlong races where he'll be worth a long hard look.

SALON TURTLE BOUNCES BACK

SALON TURTLE (37) only managed one run last year and presumably had some sort of a training setback. But he bounced right back to win a decent conditions race at Munich on his seasonal debut at the ripe old age of seven.

Salon Turtle is remarkably consistent judged by my speed ratings. He's earned the same sort of rating from me in each of his last five starts. Give him a mile and he just seems to run his race time after time whatever the going or the track and regardless of whether he's had a recent run or not. I can see him winning a Listed race sometime soon.

ASPECTUS TO GO FOR UNIQUE DERBY DOUBLE

ASPECTUS (37) has been ante-post favourite for the German Derby ever since he won the Winterfavoriten (the German equivalent of the Racing Post trophy) at Cologne last Autumn. He retained that status with a workmanlike win in decent time in the 8.5f Group 3 Preis der Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft Krefeld mbH - Dr. Busch-Memorial at Krefeld on his seasonal debut (a race that surely contains the longest single word of all races on the planet).

Trainer Hans Blume, says that Aspectus has been slow to come to hand and will improve for the outing. He also says that he plans to shoot for a unique double with the horse. After running in the German 2000 Guineas next month he plans to step Aspectus up to a longer trip for the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) before tackling the German Derby in July.

You can debate whether Aspectus will be able to stay the twelve furlongs of the German Derby, but I don't see much doubt from his pedigree that he'll get the 10.5f of the French race. He lost his first start in a sprint but has been unbeaten in three tries at a mile or more since. It's hard to say just how good he is at this stage, but the clock says few three year olds have run faster so far this term. He might just do it and certainly looks a fascinating prospect.

BIRKSPIEL A GOOD HORSE ON SOFT GROUND

British-trained horses don't have a great record in German middle distance races because the German horses are so good at such trips. But Simon Dow produced a winner for his country when BIRKSPIEL (38) took the Group 3 Grosser Preis der Bremer Wirtschaft. Actually Birkspiel had been a German-trained horse before this run and was a pretty shrewd purchase.

Dow describes Birkspiel as "quite a big, tall horse, who needs some cut in the ground." This certainly seems to be true. On going officially rated 5.0 or softer on the German scale (yielding to soft or softer basically) Birkspiel has now won three times out of four and run a head second to a multiple Group 1 placed horse in his sole loss. He's failed to place in six tries on faster ground.

Clearly Birkspiel is smart, but as the warmer weather approaches he's going to be hard to place. He may well have to wait until the Autumn before he again races on suitable ground.

BOROMIR IS VERY WELL HANDICAPPED

BOROMIR (36) ran a seriously fast time for a class 2 handicap when winning at Bremen over a mile. Funny enough his dam is a half sister to Birkspiel who won the Group 3 later on the same card. She's also a full sister to the German Derby winner Belenus. Like Birkspiel and Belenus, Boromir seems best with cut in the ground. He's won both times he's raced on yielding or softer ground and lost the five races he's had on faster going.

Boromir is still only rated 73.5 after this win, so he should be able to win at the same class level. In fact my speed ratings indicate he'd have a great chance of winning a class 1 race and might well be able to earn some black type later on.

IMPERIA DESERVES A SHOT AT GUINEAS

IMPERIA (35) improved with every one of her three starts as a two year old, ending up by finishing second to Donatessa who recently ran third in Listed company. She continued the improvement at three by winning a Dusseldorf maiden in a time that marks her out as a filly likely to earn black type herself. She won the race by a decent margin and it's perfectly possible that she'll prove good enough to be competitive in the German 1,000 Guineas next month.

BELIZAR CAN WIN AGAIN

BELIZAR (36) ran away with a class 3 handicap at Frankfurt in unusually fast time for the class. He didn't do that well on sand or over hurdles. But he's now won two of the four times he's run on grass in the last two seasons and is clearly much better than he's officially rated.

Now that he's running in the right sort of race I'd be surprised if Belizar didn't win again in the near future.

DSCHUNGEL SONG STILL AHEAD OF HANDICAPPER

DSCHUNGEL SONG (35) has spent a pretty lengthy career running over nine furlongs or less till this year. Two runs back at Krefeld he was stepped up to an extended ten furlongs and beat the useful hurdler Maniac. Now he's gone and followed up with a win in very fast time for a bottom division handicap at Mulheim.

Dschungel Song may be six years of age, but it looks like he's just finding his stride at longer trips. He's still well ahead of the handicapper if my ratings are any guide and will surely score again soon.

APEIRON IS FAST

There has been an unusually strong population of milers in Germany for a few years now. So it's not that surprising the Listed Spring Mile at Cologne was run in exceptionally fast time for the class.

The two length winner was APEIRON (39). Apeiron had won the race in 2005 and also scored in Group 3 company before. He is well capable of winning more Group races according to my ratings. My read of his form is that he's best fresh. Indeed he's now won on his seasonal debut in all four seasons that he's raced. He should hold his form for one more run though after which he may need a break.

French import TYBERIOR (37) blew what would have been an incredibly low handicap mark by finishing second on his German debut. He'd looked a very progressive horse in late 2004 and early 2005 when coming within half a length of winning five races in a row. He ran as fast here as he did then and looks capable of winning a Listed race on this running. He'd certainly be a great bet in a class 1 or 2 handicap.

FIEPES SHUFFLES HOME BY 47 LENGTHS

FIEPES SHUFFLE (39) didn't have much to beat when switched back to fences at Mannheim. But he did the job in style, bolting up by no less than 47 lengths. He has now won by a wide margin all three times he's run over the bigger jumps and will no doubt be making further raids on top British jump races. If he were mine I'd be shooting for two mile handicap chases as I suspect the British handicappers would weight him on the basis of his official German mark and that might well mean he'd be incredibly well in - if they repeat the error they make when translating official German flat ratings.