An Australian-owned 2015 Melbourne Cup contender flopped in the Group I German Derby (1m4f) at Hamburg on Sunday.
A $21 chance with Sportsbet for the 2015 Melbourne Cup, and raced in the Lee Freedman colours, Shimrano was sent out a 19/10 ($2.90) favourite coming off two consecutive victories, but never got into contention, finishing 11th in an 18-horse field.
“He was never firing today,” jockey Adrie de Vries old Racing Post UK. “I knew he had no chance from a long way out.”
Shimrano is a three-year-old colt by German sire Monsun, is owned by Australia Racing Stables and is currently trained by Paul Harley.
Monsun has sired the past two Melbourne Cup winners – Protectionist and Fiorente.
The German Derby was won by Nutan for the local combination of trainer Peter Schiergen and jockey Andrasch Starke.
The Derby victory was the seventh for Starke and fifth for Schiergan.
“He was always going so well, I knew I had the race won coming into the straight,” Starke said.
Nutan, a three-year-old colt by Duke Of Marmalade, is not in Melbourne Cup betting markets
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Paul Joice