Belenus (horse)
| Belenus | |
| Race: | English blood |
| Father: | Lomitas |
| Mother: | Beaute |
| Mother, father: | Lord Udo |
| Gender: | stallion |
| Year of birth: | 1996 |
| Year of death: | 2012 |
| Country: | Germany |
| Colour: | brown |
| Breeder: | Frank Feldmann |
| Owner: | Turf Syndicate 99 Stado Ogierow |
| Trainer: | Andreas Wöhler |
| Record: | 14 starts: 7 wins, 5 places |
| GAG : | 98 |
| Prize amount: | 1,188,000 DM |
| Greatest wins, titles and awards | |
| Greatest victories | |
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German Derby 1999 European Prize 1999 |
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Infobox last modified on: January 18, 1999. |
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Belenus (born April 12, 1996 , died December 30, 2012 ) was an English Thoroughbred horse . The chestnut stallion was bred by Lomitas from the Beaute. With a time of 2: 25.81 minutes, he still holds the record at the German Derby .
Belenus' dam Beaute was a very good sire. In addition to Belenus, she also produced the good Beryllus and the highly talented Birkspiel , whose career, however, was decisively impaired by an injury he had suffered for three years. Beaute came from an old Waldfrieder line, the line of the Blue Adriatic, which, with Baal and Baalim, produced two of the best German thoroughbreds of the post-war period.
Belenus only made its successful debut on April 2, 1999 at the age of three on his home track in Bremen. This was followed by two placements in the Derby preliminary tests at list level. He was then sold by his breeder Frank Feldmann to the Turf Syndikat 99 community of owners, led by the former jockey Manfred Hofer, for the rather high price of 350,000 DM. He immediately won the derby preliminary test in Bremen for his new owner. Nevertheless, he was only bet as a 145:10 outsider for the derby. In the race itself, Banyumanik initially ensured a brisk pace with optimal ground conditions and led the field onto the home straight, from which Belenus was then able to free himself with a long pace run. He confirmed his Derby victory a month later with a superior victory at the European Championships in Hoppegarten (Group II). Again, one month, however, were by him later, Tiger Hill in the Grand Prix of Baden shown its limits. In the absence of Tiger Hill, he again won the European Prize (Group I) a little later . In this race, however, he suffered a tendon injury that forced him to take a year and a half break. Belenus then started its comeback in 2001 with two superior victories in smaller races. In the top-class Hansa Prize (Group II), however, two years after his great triumph on the derby track in Hamburg it was only enough to finish 9th. This was followed by an equally disappointing 11th place in the Germany Prize (Group I). At the following Rhineland Cup (Group I) you saw the old Belenus again. In a race from the front he was only marginally defeated by the two best three-year-olds of 2001, Sabiango and Boreal. He finally ended his racing career with a second place in the highly endowed Bosporus Cup.
Belenu's breeding career was not a good one from the start. His owner, the Turf Syndicate consisting of 18 members, had neither the means nor the interest to set up and support him as a stallion himself on a stud. His derby triumph had long since faded and his comeback, which was quite considerable considering the severity of the injury, did not convince potential buyers. So it was finally sold to the Polish National Stud for a modest DM 100,000 . There he was only given a few suitable mares that would have enabled him to leave lasting traces in thoroughbred breeding. Regardless of the German turf public, he finally died there of colic at the end of 2012 at the age of only 16.