G1 German Derby winner to make Australian debut at Sandown

The sixth race at Sandown this Saturday will showcase some truly international form lines with Group 1 German Derby winner Sammarco set to make his Australian debut for trainer Ciaron Maher.

The Irish-bred entire has compiled an impressive resume in Europe and now begins a fresh chapter in a local 1800-metre Benchmark 100, where John Allen will take the ride. Priced at $17 in early markets with swiftbet, Sammarco is considered a roughie but is expected to improve as distances increase.

Adding to the intrigue is the presence of fellow European import Tempesti, trained by Matt Cumani. The Italian stayer narrowly beat Sammarco by a neck in the Group 3 Grand Prix De Milano at San Siro last year, setting up an interesting rematch.

“Interesting horse. He won the German Derby over 2400m and then the next start he won a race over 10 furlongs,” said assistant trainer Jack Turnbull.

“Interesting for us to see how that form does stack up. I believe there’s a horse in the same race on Saturday who he raced against in Europe, so they’ve come full circle.

“Clearly the 1800m is the bottom of his trip. He’ll probably go on a Banjo Patterson-type of preparation throughout the winter.

“By the time we get to the spring, hopefully that handicap mark’s pretty well protected, he’s fit, up and going and we can get him to better races.

“I believe a mile-and-a-half to two miles would be his go. I don’t think he would be a Cox Plate horse — hopefully I am wrong though.”

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