Aidan O’Brien has Hawk Mountain and Causeway in the provisional field for Sunday’s IDEE 157th Deutsches Derby at Hamburg, giving Ballydoyle a live shot at another European Classic only a week after its Irish Derby one-two-three.
The official race page published by Deutscher Galopp’s provisional German Derby field lists 24 horses for the Group One over 2,400 metres, with a maximum of 20 able to run.
Hawk Mountain is rated 98.5kg in the list, the highest figure among the O’Brien pair, while Causeway is shown on 95.5kg.
Both are owned by the Coolmore partners and both are currently without a named rider on the German entry sheet.
Hamburg Option Adds To Ballydoyle Weekend Puzzle
The Hamburg entry is significant because Hawk Mountain and Causeway also remain part of O’Brien’s wider middle-distance picture around Coral-Eclipse weekend, where Constitution River has become the headline Ballydoyle name at Sandown.
For O’Brien, the German Derby would be a rare remaining Classic gap on an otherwise vast CV.
After Constitution River won the French Derby, Christmas Day took the Epsom Derby and Benvenuto Cellini led home the Irish Derby, Hamburg now offers a fresh angle on a remarkable three-year-old campaign.
Final declarations are still to come, but the official provisional field confirms that Ballydoyle has kept the German route alive.
