gestüt fährhof
Jacobs: a man on an industry mission
Alson (and below) the son of Areion who has joined the roster at Fährhof
Andreas Jacobs talks to Aisling Crowe about standing new sire Alson at Gestϋt Fährhof, the difficulties Brexit has created for the German breeding industry and the yearlings the farm is sending to Tattersalls Photography courtesy of Gestuet Fährhof by Marc Rühl and Zusanna Lupa
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HANGE IS IN THE AIR over Germany, not just politically as citizens vote for a new Chancellor after 16 years of Angela Merkel’s leadership, but in the oxygen breathed by its thoroughbred racing and breeding
industry. One of its most venerable institutions Gestüt Fährhof is going through a process of renewal overseen by Andreas Jacobs, the third generation at the helm of the operation which was founded by his grandfather Walther in 1960. While most of us have found ourselves grappling with questions of an existential nature at one time or another, particularly over the past 18 months, the changing winds in Germany which gust around racing, together with the ramifications of the rupture between Britain and the EU, have ensured that Jacobs and others within the sport believe it is imperative to act now to attempt to secure a future for the thoroughbred in one of the
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globe’s most noted equine nations. One of the most visible expressions of that belief is the recent announcement that Fährhof will stand Alson from next year in a partnership with the colt’s owners and breeders the honoured Gestüt Schlenderhan, Germany’s oldest thoroughbred stud farm. “We are standing him in full partnership with Schlenderhan,” states Jacobs. “Our families know each other very well, our trust is complete, and we are working together on this as we will work together on other projects in the future. This is a very strong symbol of the partnership of two great studs in Germany. “Alson is a very good-looking horse and he was a very good two-year-old. He represents the best of German breeding and also the necessity of investing in stallions in Germany.” That best of German breeding includes Alson’s broodmare sire Galileo, a product of Schlenderhan’s most majestic family through his grand-dam
