Maxim Pecheur

The unforgettably named Thore Hammer-Hansen bade farewell to British racing at the end of last season to take up a retainer with leading German owner Eckhard Sauren. On Sunday he will go to post for the G1 Deutsches Derby as the leading rider in the country.  In many respects it was a homecoming for the young jockey, who was born in Cologne and spent some of his formative years in Baden-Baden, where his Danish-born father Lennart was riding and later training. It can also be regarded as a wise move. ...

Gestut Rottgen's homebred 3-year-old filly Erle (Ger) (Reliable Man {GB}--Kizingo {Ire}, by Oasis Dream {GB}), who ran fourth at Baden-Baden in her one run for the Markus Klug stable last year, broke through for new trainer Maxim Pecheur at Dusseldorf on sophomore return in April and continued on the upgrade with a last-gasp win in Sunday's G3 Diana-Trial at Hoppegarten. Her victory provided trainer with a maiden pattern-race success. The 7-2 chance went forward from the outside gate to stalk the pacesetting New York City (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger})...

I love Paris in the springtime, sang Ella Fitzgerald, and I'm pretty sure it was a thinly-veiled reference to her secret passion for heavy ground three-year-old maidens at Saint-Cloud. What Classic clues may we glean there? Well, maybe none. But I liked the look of Narkez (Fr), who gave his rivals a six-length walloping in the Prix Comrade last Tuesday, picking up where he left off after winning at Clairefontaine last October. Bred by Nurlan Bizakov under his Sumbe banner, the colt represents that magic Siyouni (Fr)-Galileo (Ire) cross, though...