Prix du Gostam - Interview with Holger Faust
- Luis Kimmel
- 30. Mai
- 7 Min. Lesezeit
There will be a rare German runner in Sunday’s G1 Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly. It has been nine years since a horse from a German trainer last competed in this race. BE MY SHERIFF (Lawman) finished ninth for Nadine Siepmann and trainer Miroslav Rulec. Second place was taken at the time by Gestüt Ammerland’s later Arc winner WALDGEIST (Galileo).
Now it is the team behind GOSTAM (Saxon Warrior) that is aiming for the stars in France. The three-year-old bred by Gestüt Fährhof is trained by Andreas Wöhler for Darius Racing and Michael Motschmann. Anyone who has been following the sport in Germany over the past few months knows that Gostam’s run in this race has been planned well in advance. It was announced back in October that a start in the Prix du Jockey Club would be Gostam’s main target for 2026.
Four starts, four wins. These include commanding victories in the G3 Renate and Albrecht Woeste – Zukunfts-Rennen and the G3 Wettstar.de Preis des Winterfavoriten as a two-year-old. As a three-year-old, he started directly at Group 2 level in the Wettstar.de Bavarian Classic at Munich.
Darius Racing’s racing manager, Holger Faust, sat down with me for an interview.
“It became clear to us relatively early on, for two reasons, that the French Derby would be a good fit for Gostam. Firstly, his pedigree naturally speaks in its favour. Secondly, the way he won his races as a two-year-old also points in that direction. Taken together, these factors suggest that he might not be the greatest stayer. If you want to run a horse like that in a Derby, the French Derby over 2100 metres is the logical target."
Gostam’s most famous relative is the multiple Group 1 winner FAME AND GLORY (Montjeu), who was only beaten by the great SEA THE STARS (Cape Cross) in the 2009 G1 Epsom Derby. Most people will remember the Peter Schiergen trained GEOGRAPHY (Holy Roman Emperor) even more fondly. He, in turn, raced over a mile in Germany and won multiple group races. Gostam’s dam GOIANIA (Oasis Dream) raced over similarly short distances. She won a listed race over 1400 metres in 2014.
Tactically, the race will be taken very realxed. Naturally, Gostams connection’s are hoping for an uneventful run. Faust isn’t too concerned about the ground conditions: “Gostam has already raced on various types of ground. He’s probably never run on a track as fast as Sunday’s, but that applies to most of the field. We’ll just have to see how he copes with it, but he showed just how speedy he is as a two-year-old.”
The UK bookies have Gostam currently among the extended circle of favourites with odds ranging from 14/1 to 20/1. Despite the unfavourable draw in stall 15, Aidan O’Brien’s runner CONSTITUTION RIVER (Wootton Bassett) is set to be the favourite. Behind him is the Aga Khan’s representative DARYZAN (Zarak). It is worth noting that Daryzan has only raced once so far. He won on his debut just under four weeks ago; he is not only a half-brother to Arc winner DARYZ (Sea The Stars), but also to the Baden-Baden Group 2 winner DARKANYA (Frankel). He will start from gate 10.
“As far as the main rivals are concerned, I fully agree with the betting market. Among the horses that are further back on the form list than Gostam, I don’t see any that should be ahead of us on Sunday under normal conditions,” said Holger Faust, assessing the Derby field on Wednesday evening.
Gostam will start from gate 5 under Billy Loughnane. The last six winners for this race all started from gates 1 to 6.
Four starts - four wins
In his four starts to date, Gostam has now emerged victorious on all four occasions. He made his debut on Dallmayr Preis day at Munich in July, winning at the first attempt against decent opposition. Two of the horses he beat went on to finish fourth in Group 3 races later that year.
Gostam’s campaign continued at Baden-Baden. “Superior. Two lengths,” noted the judge after the G3 Zukunfts-Rennen. A form that was to prove consistent on the international stage as well. The runner-up, COMMANDER’S INTENT (Victor Ludorum), subsequently placed in a G3 race at Newmarket and finished third in this year’s G3 Dr. Busch Memorial.
It is debatable which victory was Gostam’s best performance to date. Visually, it was probably at Cologne last October. For a moment, it looked as though the Wöhler-trained colt might lose his unbeaten record in the G3 Preis des Winterfavoriten when LOMMI (Lope De Vega) closed in dangerously. At the 300-metre mark, Gostam showed his true class and pulled away by five lengths within a few strides. No horse has managed the double of the Zukunfts-Rennen and Winterfavorit for 49 years!
The runner-up in the Winterfavorit, Lommi, went on to win the G3 RONDO FOOD GmbH & Co. KG – Herzog von Ratibor-Rennen. Gostam faced Lommi again on his debut in 2026, once more relegating him to second place in the G2 Bavarian Classic.
‘As far as I'm concerned, it's only a matter of time before he can boast all these achievements. Statistically speaking, he's currently the best rider in Europe’
Last Monday, a somewhat surprising headline appeared: ‘Gostam to be ridden by Billy Loughnane in the Prix du Jockey Club’.
After four successful rides, the decision was taken to replace Gostam’s regular jockey and stable jockey for Andreas Wöhler, Eduardo Pedroza, at international level.
Holger Faust explained the somewhat surprising decision: “The owners asked me to book a top international jockey. We then chose Billy Loughnane. He tops the English rankings and is currently statistically the best jockey in Europe. He has won the most important race of the season so far with BOW ECHO (Night Of Thunder).”
We are, of course, referring to the G1 2000 Guineas at Newmarket.
In France, Billy Loughnane has a rather modest record by his standards. The France Galop database shows two wins from eleven rides.
‘He seems to have so much potential and quality that this should make up for his lack of experience in France. Billy Loughnane does not yet have a permanent contract with any of the major racing organisations and is only 20 years old, so naturally he is still lacking in international success. But in my view, it is only a matter of time before he can boast all these successes,’ Faust continued.
‘As things stand, Gostam is “just” a Group 2 winner. So, based on our achievements over the past 15 years, he wouldn't even make it into my top 10 at the moment’
I received a long list of horses via voice message in response to my question about how Gostam compares to the horses Faust has managed so far. In addition to his successes with Darius Racing, there are, of course, his families own horses at Gestüt Karlshof. It really is an illustrious list, and I would like to mention a few of them here:
SISFAHAN and his sire ISFAHAN (Lord Of England) both won the G1 German Derby. DONJA (Teofilo), SEISMOS (Dalakhani), SORTILEGE (Tiger Hill) and KHAN (Santiago) also won at Group 1 level for Darius Racing or Gestüt Karlshof. Faust has also enjoyed double success as Racing Manager in the G2 Derby Italiano with BORNA (Saxon Warrior) and ARDAKAN (Reliable Man). RUBAIYAT (Areion) achieved the feat of being voted German Horse of the Year in 2019 for his two-year-old season.
Incidentally, this list is by no means exhaustive.
But just how good is Gostam?
"On paper, he’s unbeaten, but as things stand he’s ‘just’ a Group 2 winner. So, based on our successes over the past 15 years, he wouldn’t even make the top 10 at the moment. Nevertheless, I’d go out on a limb and say that I believe he has the potential to be the best. Regardless of Sunday’s result. I believe he is capable of winning a Group 1 race. He simply has so much potential that I believe, perhaps I’m even convinced, that, at the end of the day, Gostam will be the best horse I’ve ever been involved with."
Ever since the betting market for the G1 IDEE 157th Deutsches Derby on 5 July opened, Gostam has been leading the field. The best odds currently available at a German bookmaker are 13/2.
Gostam certainly won’t be lacking in class, but there has always been a medium-sized question mark over his stamina, so it remains to be seen whether the French Derby could come before the German one. Even Faust cannot give us a satisfactory answer. “I’m afraid I have to give an unsatisfactory answer there. The aim has always been for Gostam to start the season at Munich and then go to France. Everything after that is still up in the air.” Entries for the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden and even the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe are already in place.
A German runner in a major international race is always a delight, and so the whole of the German racing world is surely wishing Gostam and his team the best of luck for the Chantilly adventure.
‘He’s a star in the future,’ said racecaller Marvin Schridde, commenting on Gostam’s victory in the G3 Zukunftsrennen last August at Baden-Baden. The future is now!
By the way, you can find out where Gostam features in my latest power ranking ahead of the German Derby here: galoppdaily.com/en/post/jeder-gegen-jeden-derby-dutzend-ii
You can find even more exciting interviews, analyses and opinions on GaloppDaily.com. If you’d like to see more insights into the world of German racing, why not follow me on Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / TikTok!
Luis Kimmel
