WIESENPFAD SHOULD HAVE WON

After his big win at Baden-Baden WIESENPFAD (40) looked a good thing for the Group 3 Merill Lynch Euro-Cup at Frankfurt last Sunday. Sure enough he was always moving well though held up some way off the searching early pace set by PERSIAN STORM (40). Entering the short homestraight he was asked for his effort and rapidly closed the gap to challenge Persian Storm. But this is when things went pear shaped because Persian Storm started hanging badly to his right and nothing his jockey did could stop him carrying Wiesenpfad two thirds of the way across the track, allowing SHREK (40) to sneak through on the rail and pip the pair of them.

This is just one of those things that happens in racing. Wiesenpfad remains a horse of tremendous promise, one that I expect to see contesting big international races sooner rather than later.

Shrek was second in the Italian Derby. But a lot of ten furlong horses have won or gone close in that contest. And it does look like Shrek is a much better horse over ten furlongs. Indeed he's now won all four times he's run ten furlongs or less since his debut loss.

Shrek, like Wiesenpfad, will no doubt be seen abroad next season since there aren't many opportunities for a potentially Group 1 horse over ten furlongs in Germany. He'll certainly be interesting wherever he runs over this distance.

Persian Storm is a very entertaining horse in that he goes like the clappers and keeps on rolling. It looked like he'd gone off too fast here but he kept on remarkably well to finish a close second. Clearly he's a tough horse to get by and also looks an interesting prospect for foreign races.

WIESENPFAD SHOULD HAVE WON

After his big win at Baden-Baden WIESENPFAD (40) looked a good thing for the Group 3 Merill Lynch Euro-Cup at Frankfurt last Sunday. Sure enough he was always moving well though held up some way off the searching early pace set by PERSIAN STORM (40). Entering the short homestraight he was asked for his effort and rapidly closed the gap to challenge Persian Storm. But this is when things went pear shaped because Persian Storm started hanging badly to his right and nothing his jockey did could stop him carrying Wiesenpfad two thirds of the way across the track, allowing SHREK (40) to sneak through on the rail and pip the pair of them.

This is just one of those things that happens in racing. Wiesenpfad remains a horse of tremendous promise, one that I expect to see contesting big international races sooner rather than later.

Shrek was second in the Italian Derby. But a lot of ten furlong horses have won or gone close in that contest. And it does look like Shrek is a much better horse over ten furlongs. Indeed he's now won all four times he's run ten furlongs or less since his debut loss.

Shrek, like Wiesenpfad, will no doubt be seen abroad next season since there aren't many opportunities for a potentially Group 1 horse over ten furlongs in Germany. He'll certainly be interesting wherever he runs over this distance.

Persian Storm is a very entertaining horse in that he goes like the clappers and keeps on rolling. It looked like he'd gone off too fast here but he kept on remarkably well to finish a close second. Clearly he's a tough horse to get by and also looks an interesting prospect for foreign races.

WIESENPFAD MAY WELL BE A GROUP 1 HORSE

WIESENPFAD (40) earned the biggest speed rating I awarded at the week long Festival at Baden-Baden. He did so when winning a ten furlong Group 3 in impressive style. Held up in fourth or fifth place he was always moving best and surged through to lead about a furlong out. He quickly went away from his rivals to win clearly with a fair bit in hand, his jockey having time to bend down and pat his neck before the line was even reached.

Wiesenpfad is a handsome horse, very strong and heavily muscled over the neck and withers. He lost on his racecourse debut but has won all five times he's gone longer than a mile since. He ran a big Group 2 time here and I suspect he's capable of running a bit faster. I'd like to see him running in a big international race like the Hong Kong Vase. Wherever he goes next I'd like to be betting him.

MI EMMA TOUGH TO BEAT ON FAST GROUND

MI EMMA (39) confirmed that she is bang there with the best fillies in Europe when beating older males to take a Group 2 race over a mile at Germany's biggest race meeting held in Baden-Baden last week.

After making all the running at a strong pace Mi Emma had plenty left in the tank to repel the late run of multiple Group 1 winner Soldier Hollow (37).

If she were mine I'd be sending Mi Emma to America where she could easily earn the Group 1 win she deserves by racing against horses of her own age and sex. But it seems she is headed for big Group 1's against older males in Italy and Hong Kong instead. It's going to be tough for her to win there. However she only needs to improve a bit to score in either of those races so I wouldn't put it past her, especially if she gets fast ground.

Mi Emma broke her maiden on yielding ground. Since then though she's lost both times she's encountered cut in the ground and won all three times she hasn't.

VILLEROY MAKES IT FIVE OUT OF FIVE AT BADEN-BADEN

The map of Baden-Baden racecourse is incredibly complex. It has so many different tracks and turns I'm surprised jockeys don't get lost in some races.

As with most unusual courses Baden-Baden produces quite a few track specialists. Right at the top of the list is VILLEROY (38) who won the the most valuable handicap run at the meeting, the Internationaler Pokal over eleven furlongs in Group class time.

I talked about Villeroy's affinity for Baden-Baden back in May when he also scored in Group class time at the track. His latest win at Baden-Baden takes his record there to five wins from five starts.

Last year's winner of the Internationaler Pokal was Quijano who went on to win the Grosser Pries von Baden on the same card. Villeroy is a few lengths shy of that one on my ratings but he'd certainly make an interesting runner in next year's contest.

ADLERFLUG WAS THE BEST HORSE IN GROSSER PREIS

It is now the norm across Europe for the top middle distance Weight For Age races to be slow run in the early stages. The only thing that seems to ensure a strong early pace is when a proper Group 1 horse makes the running, as Scorpion did in the King George. If a lesser light is put in as a pacemaker the riders of the other horses simply ignore it. This was the case with Song Of Hiawatha in the Juddmonte International. And it happened again when the similar class Sommertag (16) was put in to make the pace for his stablemate, the German Derby winner ADLERFLUG (35), in the Grosser Preis von Baden.

Sommertag soon surged clear but quickly lost contact with the field to the extent that his jockey twice took a long look back over his shoulder as if to say 'come on, try and catch me' to the other riders. Sadly they weren't interested, so Sommertag's rider had no choice but to ease back and amble around the track until just before the entrance to the homestraight where the field started sprinting.

The home turn at Baden-Baden is very sharp, pretty much one straight line running into another. And the field was going so fast when they hit it that they spread right across the track. ADLERFLUG (35) and QUIJANO (35) soon pulled clear of the rest and duelled all the way to the line. Quijano just got there first. But it looked to be a case of greater experience and acceleration winning the day rather than superior ability.

There's no doubt Quijano is a smart performer. I mentioned the big speed figures I was awarding him innumerable times here when he was busy racking up ten wins in a row last season and earlier this year. But my gut feel is that Adlerflug is a better horse.

Adlerflug is a big, tall, long striding beast who surely needs a much stronger pace than he encountered here to produce his best. I'd say he'd much prefer the more galloping tracks to be found outside Germany too. He can't be happy racing around the tight turns that prevail in Germany (due to the fact that pretty much every German track is built around a trotting course - those courses all being a mile or less around).

German horses aren't normally asked to race outside their home country until they are four. So I wouldn't expect to see Adlerflug line up for any of the big international prizes to be run in the last three months of the year. Next season however I'll be very interested in his chances in the top mile and a half events run outside Germany. The race I'd be targeting him at would be the Canadian International. The giant course at Woodbine with it's four and a half furlong homestraight would suit him perfectly.

The winner Quijano is an athletic, very well balanced horse who seems able to win on any sort of track or going and off a slow pace or a fast one. This is not surprising. A horse can't win ten races in a row unless it's very versatile.

On my ratings Quijano is a couple of lengths behind the very top middle-distance runners. But his versatility could easily win him another big international prize before the season is over.

A few years ago fourth placed YOUMZAIN (32) would have won many more races. Unfortunately he simply must have a strong early pace and this isn't often forthcoming in big middle distance races any more. When the leaders are flying through the last furlong in under 12 seconds he's left floundering.

It's frustrating following a horse like Youmzain. All you can do is try to figure out the likely early pace every time he runs and place your bets accordingly. When the early pace is strong it takes a very smart horse to beat him.