owned by Mary EvansNEAR GERMANY
8 year old brown horse, by Germany, out of Night Year
owned by Mary Evans
Follow this link to see Near Germany's career in the Racing Post form database: RACING POST FORM
Approaching the top of the straight at Towcester, Near Germany winds himself up for a headlong charge down the hill
Mar08: After running through a fence and having seventy stitches a day before he was going to debut for us, Near Germany has had a very quiet time of it, apart from his crashing fall at Plumpton, from which he emerged bemused but unscathed, being given a break to avoid firm ground a week before the wettest summer spell in living memory, getting a two inch nail embedded in his foot and then getting struck by a somersaulting car out on a quiet lane near John Francome's estate. Amazingly, the latter saw him escape with just some deep scrapes and bruises, whereas Terry Hind, on board at the time, dislocated a hip, chipped a bone in his shoulder and was airlifted to hospital. We were thinking of Market Rasen for him, and then they had an earthquake! His phlegmatism in adversity is to admire, but from a safe distance.
Aug07: Back in from the summer, he had a lucky escape when standing on a nail and doing far less damage than can often be the case, but it will hold him up a while.
Apr07: Made his British flat debut at Folkestone and despite being ignored at 50/1, only went down by ¾ length, finishing so well that a few more yards would have seen him win. It was pleasing to see that his misfortune last time had left no ill effects, and he showed signs of recognising the myriad of pleasing speeds that exist between flat out and stopped.
Feb07: Was down a long time after falling at Plumpton, but it was fatigue and apart from a bruised ego, he seems to be A1.
Jan07: Near Germany runs a couple of similar races, starting off at rear, but taking control and charging to the front as Charlie Studd suffers the odd problem with steering - the horse wants to hang off to the right. And in neither case does he have a chance of getting home. Obviously sorting out the steering is needed, but let us not crab his consistency.
Oct06: Being a Chelsea supporter and having spotted a good, solid pun, Mary is lobbying for his pet name to be Cech or Czech, Capella suggested Tech's Mate and a halfway house of Checkmate emerged to pun on the original pun. On a more practical level, the farrier has been at work on his feet and his tendency to waddle around like a duck has been eliminated - which can only be a good thing. Near Germany's action is still very rounded, so he will need soft ground, but he is beginning to show in his work why he was, at his best, rated well above Tech Eagle in his homeland.
Jun06: Is nearly here and from Germany, and really called Near Germany (perhaps Austria was already taken). This horse was found originally by Niall McLoughlin on our first trip to Germany. At that time he seemed too expensive, and we bought Tech Eagle instead. On the flat he has three wins, four seconds and a fourth in a listed race at Dresden. However, he had gone off of the boil of late and was down to a realistic price. If we a can rekindle his enthusiasm (and it may just be a change of scenery that works) he ought to cut it over hurdles.
Before and after pics from Plumpton on his hurdling debut. He won best turned out, but there was no additional award for quickest move from last to first or being the inexplicably cleanest runner on a muddy day