Rulera, Polish Derby, St Leger (Polish Triple crown), and Wielka Warszawska. it was obvious there was no competition in Poland for the colt. Speculations about a possible start abroad began appear to by the end of 2015. Va Bank began his 2016 campaign in Poland with victories in the 2,000-metre Nagroda Golejewka and the 2,600-metre Nagroda Prezesa Totalizatora Sportowego, both for four-year-olds and up; and the 2,000-metre Nagroda Kozienic, for threeyear-olds and up. His last win was so impressive that the trainer and the owners had no other choice but to send the horse to Germany. it was not an easy decision to take this route with Va Bank. The expectations were very high, and it was not only the horse that was about to be tested. Two weeks earlier, recent French-bred Polish Derby winner caccini ran in the Group 1 Grosser Preis von Berlin and disappointed, finishing fifth out of six runners. caccini’s poor performance put the quality of Polish horses in doubt. But Va Bank did not disappoint. He added a victory in the Group 3 Preis Der Sparkassen Finanzgruppe to his impressive resume and was rated 113. it was a historical win for Poland, as the undefeated colt is the first ever Polish-trained and -owned horse to
Maciej Janikowski with jockey Per-Anders Gråberg and co-owner Janusz Piotr Zienkiewicz
win a Group 3 event outside of the country. His outstanding performance made him known in europe as ‘Polish Frankel’ and proved his trainer has the knowledge and ability to condition a horse with such talent and potential.
CALPHORMIN
Va Bank is now owned in partnership with Barry irwin, the ceO of the Team Valor international, who bought a half-interest after the win in Germany, and irwin has agreed that Maciej janikowski will continue to train the colt. n
TM
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