Torquator Tasso (foaled 21 April 2017) is a German

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse. He was named

German Horse of the Year German Horse of the Year is an award for racehorses instituted in 1957. It is the oldest public vote in the German sports. It was instituted by the WDR journalist Addi Furler. The award is decided by public vote. Records Most wins: * 3 - Orofino ...

for 2020 when he won the

Grosser Preis von Berlin The Großer Preis von Berlin, formerly known as the Deutschland-Preis, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Germany open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Hoppegarten over a distance of 2,400 metres (ab ...

and was placed in the

Deutsches Derby The Deutsches Derby is a Group 1 flat horse race in Germany open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Hamburg-Horn over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it is scheduled to tak ...

Grosser Preis von Baden The Grosser Preis von Baden is a Group 1 flat horse race in Germany open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Baden-Baden over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it is schedul ...

and

Grosser Preis von Bayern The Grosser Preis von Bayern is a Group 1 flat horse race in Germany open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Munich Racecourse over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it is scheduled to take place each year ...

. In the following year he won the

Hansa-Preis The Hansa-Preis is a Group 2 flat horse race in Germany open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Hamburg-Horn over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it is scheduled to take place each year in June or July. H ...

and the Grosser Preis von Baden before recording an upset victory in the

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, France, over a distance ...

Background

Torquator Tasso is a "strapping" chestnut horse with a white blaze bred in Germany by Paul H Vandeberg. In October 2018 the

yearling Yearling may refer to: *Yearling (horse), a horse between one and two years old *''The Yearling ''The Yearling'' is a novel by American writer Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, published in March 1938. It was the main selection of the Book of the Mo ...

was put up for auction at the BBAG Mixed Sale and was bought for €24,000 by Gestut Auenquelle. The colt was sent into training at Mulheim with Marcel Weiss, who had taken over the stable in 2019 after working for several years as assistant to Jens Hischberger. He was from the seventh crop of foals sired by Adlerflug who won the

in 2007. His other major winners have included In Swoop (second in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe), Iquitos (

) and Ito (

). Torquator Tasso's dam Tijuana showed no racing ability but as a descendant of the British broodmare Allegretta she was related to many major winners including

King's Best Kings Best (24 January 1997 – 16 April 2019) was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2000 Guineas Stakes. He was described by his trainer Michael Stoute as the best miler he'd ever trained. Background King's Best ...

Urban Sea Urban Sea (18 February 1989 – 2 March 2009) was an American bred Thoroughbred racemare best known for winning France's most prestigious race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, in 1993 and for her importance as a world-class broodmare. She is one o ...

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Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...

and

Sea The Stars Sea The Stars (foaled 6 April 2006) is a retired champion Irish Thoroughbred racehorse regarded as one of the greatest racehorses of all time. He won the 2000 Guineas, the Derby, the Eclipse Stakes – the first colt to accomplish this treble ...

Racing career

2020: three-year-old season

Torquator Tasso did not race as a juvenile and began his track career by finishing fourth in a minor race over 2000 metres at Mulheim Racecourse on 9 May. In the following month he started at odds of 1.8/1 for a race over 2200 metres at

Cologne-Weidenpesch Racecourse The Cologne-Weidenpesch Racecourse (''Galopprennbahn Köln-Weidenpesch'') is a horse racing track at Weidenpescher Park in Nippes, Cologne. As the only race course in Germany hosting more than one European pattern Group 1 race, Weidenpesch is on ...

when he was ridden by

Bauyrzhan Murzabayev Bauyrzhan Murzabayev (Бауыржан Мұрзабаев; born September 17, 1992) is a Kazakhstani jockey currently active in Germany. He is the 3 time German flat racing Champion Jockey from 2019 to 2021. Overview Murzabayev was born on S ...

and recorded his first success as he won by a

length Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Interna ...

from Fataliste. The colt was then stepped up sharply in class to contest the

Group 1 Group 1 may refer to: * Alkali metal, a chemical element classification for Alkali metal * Group 1 (racing), a historic (until 1981) classification for Touring car racing, applied to standard touring cars. Comparable to modern FIA Group N * Group On ...

Deutsches Derby at

Horner Rennbahn Galopprennbahn Hamburg-Horn (''Hamburg-Horn Racecourse''), also known as Horner Rennbahn, is a major horse racing venue located in Horn, Hamburg, Horn, Hamburg, Germany. It is Germany's oldest horse-racing track, built in 1855. It has a capacity o ...

in July when he started a 22/1 outsider but stayed on well in the closing stages to finish second to In Swoop, beaten three quarters of a length by the winner. In September Torquator Tasso was matched against older horses in the Group 1

and did best of the German runners as he came home third behind the British challengers Barney Roy and Communique. On 2 October started favourite for the Group 1

over 2400 metres on good to soft ground at Hoppegarten Racecourse (the race is usually run in August but was rescheduled owing to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

). Ridden by Lukas Delozier he recovered from a slow start to take the lead 200 metres from the finish and held off a late challenge from Dicaprio to win by a short head. On his final start of the year Torquator Tasso started favourite for the

at Munich but was beaten a neck into second place by the

filly A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

Sunny Queen. For his performances as a three-year-old Torquator Tasso was voted

for 2020.

2021: four-year-old season

On his first appearance as a four-year-old Torquator Tasso finished sixth behind Kaspar in the Group 2

Grosser Preis der Badischen Wirtschaft The Grosser Preis der Badischen Wirtschaft is a Group races, Group 2 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Germany open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Baden-Baden over a distance of 2,200 metres (about 1 mile and 3 ...

at Mulheim in June. In the

at Hamburg in July the colt was ridden by Rene Piechulek and won in "impressive" style, beating Sunny Queen by four and a half lengths after taking the lead 300 metres from the finish. In August Torquator Tasso started favourite as he attempted to repeat his 2020 success in the Grosser Preis von Berlin but was beaten into second place by the British filly

Alpinista Alpinista (foaled 16 February 2017) is a British Thoroughbred racehorse. She showed some promise as a juvenile in 2019 when she won a maiden race on her debut and finished fourth in the Prix d'Aumale. In the following year she won the Upavon ...

. In the Grosser Preis von Baden the colt started favourite against six opponents including Kaspar, Sisfahan (2021 Deutsches Derby) and the

Glorious Stakes The Glorious Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 1 mile 3 furlongs and 218 yards (2,412 metres), ...

winner Passion And Glory. Ridden by Piechulek he raced in fourth place before taking the lead 200 metres out and stayed on well to win by a length from Sisfahan. After the race Weiss said "The

Arc ARC may refer to: Business * Aircraft Radio Corporation, a major avionics manufacturer from the 1920s to the '50s * Airlines Reporting Corporation, an airline-owned company that provides ticket distribution, reporting, and settlement services * ...

is the next target. Torquator Tasso passed the test with flying colors, even though the race was very stop-start. Rene Piechulek did a brilliant job." Four weeks after his win at Baden-Baden, Torquator Tasso (as Weiss predicted) was sent to France to contest the 100th edition of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe over 2400 metres on heavy ground at

Longchamp Racecourse The Longchamp Racecourse (french: Hippodrome de Longchamp) is a 57 hectare horse-racing facility located on the Route des Tribunes at the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, France. It is used for flat racing and is noted for its variety of interlaced tr ...

when he was partnered by Piechulek and started a 72/1 outsider.

Hurricane Lane The name Lane has been used for eight tropical cyclones in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. *Tropical Storm Lane (1978) *Tropical Storm Lane (1982) *Hurricane Lane (1988) *Hurricane Lane (1994) *Hurricane Lane (2000) *Hurricane Lane (2006) – a strong C ...

started favourite while the other contenders included Adayar, Tarnawa,

Snowfall Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

Chrono Genesis Chrono Genesis ( ja, クロノジェネシス, link=no, foaled 6 March 2016) is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. She was one of the best two-year-old fillies in Japan when she won her first two races including the Ivy Stakes and then ran a clo ...

, Broome and Sealiway. He raced in mid-division before making steady progress on the outside approaching the straight. He maintained his run, overhauled Hurricane Lane and Tarnawa in the last 50 metres and won by three quarters of a length. He became the third German-trained winner of the race after Star Appeal (1975) and

Danedream Danedream (foaled 7 May 2008) is a German Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2011 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in race record time. She is one of only three German trained horses to win the Arc, the others being Star Appeal in 1975 a ...

(2011). Weiss explained "We started to plan for the Arc last winter. I thought this was the strongest Arc of the last few years but I still thought he deserved to go to the start. We would have been very happy if he had finished third, fourth, fifth, or sixth. We would have considered that a success. The fact he has won is a bonus."

Pedigree

References

{{Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe Winners 2017 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Germany Racehorses trained in Germany Thoroughbred family 9-h Arc winners