Preis von Europa (Group 1)

SIR Mark Prescott’s four-year-old filly Alpinista must be one of the most improved horses in training this season.

The Kirsten Rausing homebred was already more than useful last season, when her best performance was to finish five lengths runner-up to Love in the Yorkshire Oaks. She has now stepped up considerably on that form and is unbeaten in four starts in 2021, starting with a listed win by a short head in Goodwood at the end of April, followed by the Group 2 Lancashire Oaks and then two Group 1 victories in Germany, the later being last Sunday in the Preis von Europa at Cologne.

Admittedly the form of her previous win in the Grosser Preis von Berlin at Hoppegarten – boosted by the subsequent Group 1 victories of the placed horses Torquator Tasso in Baden-Baden and Walton Street in the Canadian International – ensured that she started a warm favourite at 11/10 in Cologne, but she still had to do it against some strong domestic opposition, and she did it in style.

Early pace

With nobody willing to make the running, the early pace was very slow, but after half a mile locally trained Nerium was pushed into the lead and quickly injected some pace into the race; he led by four lengths coming into the straight but Alpinista soon had him in her sights and went clear second three out.

Luke Morris had to get at her briefly, but she then lengthened in eye-catching style to cut down the leader and quickly put the race to bed. In the end her winning margin was a length and a half from Nerium, a course-and-distance specialist running his best-ever race here, with this year’s German Derby winner Sisfahan running on late to take third, a length and three-quarters farther back, and the rest never seen with a chance.

Alpinista has now won six of her 11 career starts and is still on an upward curve.

The German handicapper has put her rating up to German GAG 99 (equals an international 118, although the Racing Post still has her on 116) and she is not finished yet.

As a daughter of Frankel, enjoying a sensational season, from one of Miss Rausing’s best families, she is certainly entitled to be smart and to improve with age, and memories were immediately revived of her grandam Albanova, also owned and bred by Rausing and trained by Sir Mark, who won three German Group 1s in 2004 at the age of five, including this one.

Alpinista is likely now to try to emulate Albanova by contesting Munich’s Grosser Preis von Bayern in November, the final Group 1 of the 2021 season.

She is a credit to her trainer, who has done so well with this family, and also gets on extremely well with Luke Morris, who has partnered her to five of her victories and describes her as “a bit lazy, but very classy.”