| HINDSIGHT |
UWE OSTMANN Peter Muhlfeit spoke to Uwe Ostmann, who for four decades was a driving force in German racing, winning more than 1,600 races and who at the tender age of 78 still loves outdoor swimming and has a close eye on German racing. Peter Muhlfeit
Marc Rühl
You retired six years ago; how hard was it to give up racing? It was tough for me as I was practically dealing my whole life wit ith horses. But I live only a fi five-minute walk away from fiv the racecourse and my former stable in Mulheim. I’m still in touch wi with the wit owners of Gestüt Auenquelle, for whom I had plenty of success. I’m feeling well, do a lot of sport—cycling and swi wimming wim outdoors in a lake—and I watch a lot of racing. I hardly miss a racing day in Cologne. How do you judge the current situation of German racing? I’m actually quite optimistic that we wi will wil turn the tide, and better days are to come. If there is good weather and good racing, there are plenty of young people coming to watch the horses. But the racing clubs have to work to attract a new crowd. Cologne, Hannover and Hoppegarten are showin ing the way. But I realise that it is difffiic icult to fi find sponsors and create the fin betting revenue to fund top racing. What got you involved in racing in the first place? I grew up in Detmold in North RhineWestfalia, and there used to be a small racecourse in the Fifties. Bruno Schütz, one of our best trainers ever, did wi win a win pony race back then. I was fascinated by the horses and wanted to do work wit ith them. An uncle of mine helped me to get an apprenticeship wi with Sven von Mitzlaff wit ff when I was 15.
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You learned the trade at the yard who has trained Germany’s only Triple Crown winner Königsstuhl. What kind of man was Herr von Mitzlaff? Herr von Mitzlaff ff was a really fi fine man— fin only on few occasions he raised his voice. The whole situation at the stable—we were six apprentices at the time—was very homely. We were raised and educated in a very good way...something that helps and stays wi with you your whole life. wit Von Mitzlaff did win the German Derby seven times. You landed the Derby once—1988 with Luigi, ridden by Walter Swinburn. Was this the biggest moment of your training career? Yes of course, despite the fact I trained plenty ty of other great horses. But a Derby wiin n really puts you on the map, in the late Eighties even more so as the media att ttention was much bigger than it is now. tte And it was particular sweet for us that Luigi And An beat Al Alte Zeit, who was in training wi Alt with me wit as a tw two-year-old and won the Preis der two Winterkonigin for me. At three she raced for Hein Bollow. So I was very happy that we beat her and it wasn’t the other way round. Gonbarda, homebred by Auenquelle, probably was the best filly you ever trained. She won two Gp1 races. What was so special about her? She had real stamina and a big fi fighting fig heart. And even though she was a Landooff ffspring, she did not need any particular ffs ground. She won the Gp1 Preis von Europa on soft ground. Gonbarda then was sold for big money to Darley Stud. Unfortunately, she did not race again but produced some really good horses like the Champion Stakes and Lockinge Stakes winner, Farhh. win wi
You had a reputation of being particularly successful with two-year-olds. What was your secret? I don’t have a secret, but I guess I trusted the good horses to go out early. Mandelbaum, who was unbeaten at two and three years, or Turfk fkonig, win fko inner of eight Group races, were out three times at two, and it didn’t hurt their career. Today I feel that some trainers are a bit too timid in this respect. How do you rate the current crop? Noble Moon, win inner of the Preis des Winterfavoriten, is well bred. Sea The Moon has done very well wi with his fi wit first fir year, and I’m convin inced that there wil ill be some good stayers out there by him. I’m anyw yway amazed that German breeding ywa still manages to produce top horses on a regular basis despite its small base and the fact that we are selling plenty of our best horses abroad.