COOLMORE CITY OF TROY GERMAN 2,000 GUINEAS (G2)
TITLE ROLE (Too Darn Hot – Valiant Girl) bounced back from a disappointing run in the Greenham Stakes at Newbury to land Monday’s German 2,000 Guineas for Simon and Ed Crisford under Sean Levey. This was his 2nd Guineas victory this year, following on from his earlier victory in the Jumeirah 2,000 Guineas at Meydan in February, a race where he got the better of the Godolphin and Charlie Appleby trained pair of Pacific Avenue and Talk of New York. There were one or two holes in that piece of form going into Monday’s German 2,000 Guineas, but Title Role showed that the Newbury run was just a minor blip and he returned to peak form with a battling display in the final furlong to hold off several late challengers, ultimately running out a comfortable winner by over a length from Karl Burke’s Shayem. Here’s a look at Title Role’s key data;
Sean Levey was certainly brave. Sat in mid-division as the field approached the bend, Levey chose to keep his mount tight to the inside rail. I have seen other races at Cologne where that route leads to a very difficult passage, but fortune was on his side and having saved ground around the turn, Title Role showed a superb turn-of-foot to get himself on terms when the sprint for the line began with 600m to run. At an average of 6.92m, Title Role had the shortest stride length in the field and was one of just 2 horses to register a figure below 7m. However, what he lacked in size, he made up for with both speed and to a certain degree of stamina, as he clocked a top speed of 67.4 km/h at a minimum average stride frequency of 2.48 strides per second. That stride frequency figure is made all the more remarkable by the fact that the next highest figure was 2.34 per second recorded by Sonic Boom. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his overall race average was the highest figure in the field at 2.54 per second. More noticeably, those stride frequency averages reached 2 peaks in furlongs 2 and 6 and this result helps to explain why he struggled in the Greenham. The long straight at Newbury and the strong gallop set by Alparslan simply did not play to this horse’s strengths. At an average of 6.77m, he had the shortest stride length in the field at Newbury and when we consider that his stride length was 0.56m less than the next shortest average stride length (Zavateri 7.33m), it confirms that he was up against it from the moment the stalls opened. Fast forward a month and the switch to a tight turning track like Cologne, where he could save ground around the bend and corner like he was on rails and he was able to return to the level of form that he had reached so successfully in Dubai over the winter. Both Shayem (2nd) and Loucas (3rd) had their chances, with the latter coming in as the best of the German trained runners under Rene Piechulek. Title Role did drift slightly to his left in the final 100m, but I don’t think it was enough to affect the result and the fact that his run-out speed of 53.28 km/h was faster than the runner-up would be further evidence to support that theory.
Title Role is now a multiple Guineas winner and whilst the straight courses in the UK may not play to his strengths, if this son of Too Darn Hot can be found further opportunities around a bend, then there is every chance that he can add further to his impressive 2026 return.