The German flag will fly high at Kranji on Sunday night should the much-vaunted Pastorius win the $3 million Group 1 Singapore Airlines International Cup (2000m), but owner Franz Auersperg and trainer Mario Hofer would probably be humming the Austrian national anthem as well.
Auersperg, a former boss at EMTV in Germany, who now has more time to dabble in his passion as a hobby owner-breeder, said one of the reasons he gets along so well with Hofer, a jockey-turned-trainer, is thanks to their common place of birth, Austria. (The cross-border flow of settlers between the two neighbouring countries is fairly similar to the one between Singapore and Malaysia across the Causeway).
The pair clicked a few years ago after Auersperg, whose first contact with horses came via his late Olympic dressage trainer father, bumped into Hofer on the Munich racecourse, spawning a successful partnership from which Pastorius is unquestionably their finest gem.
“I was too exposed with horses in the early years, but after my father died in 1998, I decided to get back with horses, but try something different – horse racing,” said Auersperg.
“I've become a breeder and raced my own horses, but made a few mistakes along the way. I also tried a few trainers, but it didn't work out, until I met Mario.
“We get along very well and that's probably because we are both Austrian. But the thing I like the most about Mario is we always have open frank discussions.
“We may not agree on certain things, but we both want the welfare of our horses. To be honest, I was not keen on sending Pastorius to Singapore as I was worried about the 20-hour flight via Dubai.
“I can tell you it may have been freezing over in Germany, but I was sweating over his trip. Thank God he travelled very well here and lost only three kilos.”
Auersperg said Pastorius was the third foal out of a Monsun mare he owned called Princess Li, and clearly her best progeny.
“She's the daughter of a very good stallion in Europe in the last 20 years. Her first filly was no good, the second one is Point Blank, who is by Royal Dragon, a son of Danehill, and is usually a pacemaker to Pastorius.
“He made the pace in the Prix Ganay, but he's not a bad horse in his own right as he ran a place in a Group 2 race.
“But he's definitely nowhere near Pastorius, who is by the far the best horse I've ever owned. He's a once-in-a-lifetime horse.”
With more than 1,900 wins to his name, including 200 black-type wins, Hofer certainly gives a big wrap when he also ranks the four-year-old entire by Soldier Hollow as the best horse he has put the bridle on in his 28 years of training in Munich first, and now Krefeld.
“He's the best horse I've trained since my filly Paita, who won the Criterium de Saint-Cloud in 2004,” said Hofer who had 300 wins under his belt as a jockey in Austria and Germany before hanging up his boots following a hip replacement operation.
“He was Europe's second highest rated three-year-old after Camelot last season. That was when we started thinking overseas, and the SIA Cup is a race we have all heard about and I spoke to the owner about it as early as last February, even before he won the Group 1 Prix Ganay (2200m) last month.
“He can handle any ground, good or soft. I would say he's proven over anything beyond 10 furlongs as he's won up to 11 and 12 furlongs. I wouldn't really know which one is his pet trip.
“He's easy to train, but he can just get a bit upset around horses he doesn't know.”
Hofer, who was three times champion hurdles trainer in Germany, but only made it to second place three times on the flat, has pencilled in an ambitious campaign for Pastorius should he pull up well after the SIA Cup, beginning with Royal Ascot.
“He'll either go for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Royal Ascot or the Eclipse Stakes (2000m) in Sandown,” said Hofer.
“After that, if all goes well, the Arc is a race we may consider. We haven't really thought about other places like Hong Kong or Dubai.”
Run at Longchamp in October and considered by many as the world's greatest race, the Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (2400m) was won by Danedream for Germany and trained by Peter Schiergen in 2011.
Hofer and Auersperg would be loath to get too ahead of themselves, preferring to focus on the task at hand on Sunday, but they sure get a buzz talking about another future prospect that has just sprung out from Schlenderhan Stud near Cologne.
“Pastorius's full-brother was just born two weeks ago. It's too early to tell whether he'll be as good, but I've already chosen his name: Pearl Jam,” said Auersperg who names all his horses after anything related to his first love, rock music.
“Pastorius himself was named after a bass player from the 80s, Jaco Pastorius. Point Blank was an American rock group from the 70s.
“Hopefully we can rock Kranji on Sunday.”
