141st German St Leger (G3)
“Caballo de Mar gives George Scott more success at Dortmund”
Having won this race with Prydwen in 2024, George Scott enjoyed yet more success in the German St Leger at Dortmund on Sunday afternoon as Caballo de Mar ran out a relatively comfortable winner under Adrie de Vries. This was a 3rd success in this race for De Vries, who also rode Virginia Sun (2014) and Aff Un Zo (2021) to victory, but he can’t have enjoyed too many straight forward successes like this around the Dortmund track. A winning time of 3:06.83 on ground described as Good to Soft made this the slowest winning time in the German St Leger since Oriental Eagle in 2017 and adds to the general impression that this contest was run at a sedate early gallop. The early leader and eventual runner-up Waldnebel, was initially held wide before tacking across to lead the field into the first turn. He ran the opening 4 furlongs in 58.19s and led the field as far as the 600m point. However, once Adrie De Vries asked Caballo de Mar for his effort, there was only ever going to be one winner and from the moment that George Scott’s 4-year-old hit the front, he was in complete command. Waldnebel had finished 2nd to Parachutiste in the Listed Grand Prix de Clairefontaine in August and ran to a similar level when 6th behind Best Secret in the Listed Prix Turenne at Saint-Cloud 10 days ago. However, whilst he is a solid performer at this level and he did finish a respectable 8th in the German Derby in July, he has had his limitations exposed at this level and a two and three-quarter length defeat by a horse rated 99 by the BHA handicapper, in receipt of 6 lbs, would suggest that he is unlikely to improve beyond his current level.
The field raced down the centre of the back straight, but Adrie De Vries always had his mount within a length of the leader and when asking for a greater effort, he received an instant response. Caballo de Mar was the fastest horse over each of the final 3-furlongs, recording a race best top speed of 40.8 mph as he went further clear in the closing stages. At an average of 23.46 ft, he had the longest stride length in the field and his peak average of 25.46 ft, also a race best, was reached in the final furlong, suggesting that he had more in the locker if it had been needed. In a race run with a finishing speed of 116.5%, he was certainly well placed and there are perhaps some reasons to forgive the beaten favourite, Lordano, who was given a lot to do in the latter stages. However, Caballo de Mar was the best horse on the day and this was an excellent piece of race planning by George Scott for Victorious Racing. In 2025, Caballo de Mar has finished 2nd in both the Copper Horse handicap at Royal Ascot and the Chester Cup, as well as 4 handicap wins at Southwell and Haydock, which is a remarkable return for a horse who began the year with an official rating of 75. He continues to improve and now that he has traveled successfully to the continent, there is every reason to think that he may be capable of adding further Group successes to his growing CV.