Blessed holiday season greetings from Lake Starnberg

With 2019 drawing to a close, we are reflecting on an enormously successful year for our stud farms and breeding operations. Naturally, it is very special whenever a home-bred horse achieves great success on the racecourse; hence, Waldgeist's triumph in Europe's most prestigious race, the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe marked the highlight of the year for us in many respects. The eight-time group-winning five-year-old by Galileo, bred in unison with Newsells Park Stud out of the top-mare Waldlerche, has since taken up stud duty in Ireland while his half-brother Waldkoenig has made a breathtaking debut at Wolverhampton only weeks ago, generating high hopes for next year's turf season.

2019 proved also an outstanding for Ireland-based Lope De Vega, who had eleven group wins in both hemispheres with Phoenix Of Spain's thrilling victory in the G1 Irish Guineas certainly the top success in Europe. The 2007 born Sharmadal-son closes the year in Europe with a fifth-place in the ranking of Leading Sires by winners and also Black Type winners. His progeny were in high demand at all auction sales, particularly at Tattersall's October Yearling Sale.

With the season in the Southern Hemisphere still underway and high quality two-year-olds by Lope De Vega catching the public's attention this year, the upward trend of the 2007 born is expected to continue into the 2020 turf season. By then, we will also see the first crop of foals by Iquitos (Adlerflug), who has started his second career at our stud at Lake Starnberg this year.

As Ammerland's show jumpers and dressage team around Rudi Widmann and Martin Schäufler have also had a most successful year, we close this year with a sense of great satisfaction.

At this time, we would like to take the opportunity and extend our heartfelt thanks to all those who have made this amazingly successful year possible—our trainers, jockeys and staff members at our stud farms and in the racing stables who care for our horses with such devotion every single day and without whom none of this would have been possible. We are thankful to our partners, breeders and customers who continue to place their trust in us.

To all the above named as well as all friends of thoroughbred breeding and horse racing enthusiasts we wish a most blessed holiday season and a peaceful turn of the year. May 2020 bring you bounties of health, joy and success.

(19/12/2019)