Deutsches Derby Hero Sammarco Ready for Australian Debut

[Wandering Eyes]

Sammarco, a dual Group 1 winner when trained in Germany by Peter Schiergen, is set to make his Australian debut for Ciaron Maher at Sandown on Saturday.

The son of Camelot was a high-class three-year-old in 2022 when he registered back-to-back victories at the top level in the Deutsches Derby and Grosser Dallmayr-Preis – Bayerisches Zuchtrennen. He now kicks off his career in Australia as the winner of five of his 18 starts and over €630,000 in total prize-money.

“It's going to be interesting how that German form ties in,” assistant trainer Jack Turnbull told Racenet. “We've had some of our riders on him and Ethan [Brown] had a sit on him recently and said he gave him a feel. That's what you want to hear.

“He's definitely one of those staying horses that could do anything, especially this time of year. You know he's got the stamina, he's just got to get the first half right.”

Sammarco is set to run over 1,800 metres on Saturday, having shown his best form in Europe at around 2,400 metres, but Turnbull is optimistic that the run will bring him on as the team build towards some big targets in the spring.

“He'll want the run, naturally, but it's just the right race to kick him off in,” he added. “Our plan is to pick through the winter. He'll probably go through the Banjo Paterson Series and then, all being well, you're at the doorstep of spring fit.

“He will be regulation four to five weeks every run, emulating that European style. He's not young–he's seasoned and we can't reinvent the wheel running every two weeks.”

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