NEWS
Overdose tastes defeat for first time in Germany
Posted: Sunday, August 29, 2010 4:46 PM
by Mike Curry
Overdose, considered to best horse to come from Hungary since the great Kincsem in the 1870s, suffered his first career defeat on Sunday at Baden-Baden in the Bestwetten.de Goldene Peitsche (Ger-G2).
Zoltan Mikoczy’s five-year-old star sprinter stumbled coming out of the starting gate before stalking the pace from second under Christophe Soumillon. Overdose briefly made the lead with about 400 meters remaining but faded to finish seventh in the 12-horse field.
Amico Fritz, a stakes winner in France and a group stakes winner in Germany, raced in midpack and closed willing to take command inside the final 200 meters. Trained by Henri-Alex Pantall, Amico Fritz covered 1,200 meters (5.96 furlongs) in 1:11.38 to improve to eight wins in 22 starts. Amico Fritz finished last of 15 in in the Prix Maurice de Gheest (Fr-G1) in his previous start and was fifth of 24 in the Golden Jubilee Stakes (Eng-G1) in June at Royal Ascot.
Overdose entered the Goldene Peitsche with 14 wins in as many starts, but foot injuries have sidelined the Starborough horse for much of the last 1 1/2 years. He was away from the races for 15 months from April 2009 to July 18, when he returned with a win at Bratislava in Slovakia. He entered the Goldene Peitsche off a dominant ten-length victory in the Bestens-Pannonia Life Insurance Prize Stakes on August 15 at Kincsem Park in Hungary.
Mikoczy said he thought the Goldene Peitsche was lost before it started for Overdose, who washed out and refused to load several times, delaying the start by eight minutes as Soumillon hopped off on multiple occasions in an effort to convince him to enter the starting gate.
"The horse wants to race, but today, for some reason, he didn't," Mikoczy told Racing Post. "In the situation we had today, he shouldn't have run."
Mikoczy, who purchased Overdose for $3,979 at the 2006 Tattersalls December yearling sale, said his star sprinter will be pointed to the Qatar Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp (Fr-G1) on October 3 at Longchamp.
"We will try in Paris so long as the horse is sound and well," Mikoczy said. "The vets have had a look at him after the race and so far he seems okay."
Overdose’s only previous experience at Longchamp came in the 2008 Prix de l’Abbaye, which turned into a major disappointment when the starter ordered a recall in the 1,000-meter (4.97-furlong) sprint after Fleeting Spirit (Ire) was left in the gate. Overdose’s jockey, Andreas Suborics, did not see the signal to pull up and completed the course in near-record time. The starter called for the race to be re-run nearly five hours later, but Overdose’s trainer Sandor Ribarszki and Mikoczy refused to send him out to run a second race on the same day and he was scratched.
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor
