Powerscourt Upset in German Group I

Ferdinand Leve's German homebred Intendant successfully fended off the Irish invasion of Susan Magnier's Powerscourt with a well-timed closing kick to capture the Grosser Preis Bayerisches Zuchtrennen (Ger-I) at Munich Sunday.

A flop in the German Derby (Ger-I), where he was 16th, the 3-year-old was ignored at odds of 15-1, but he showed no respect for his elders. Seventh in the nine-horse field when they reached the straight, Intendant came on powerfully in the final 200 yards under Jiri Palik, catching the highly-respected Powerscourt with 100 yards left. He pulled away to win in style by 1 1/2 lengths.

Powerscourt, the group I winner who was the runner-up to Rakti in the Prince of Wales's Stakes (Eng-I) at Royal Ascot in June, set a solid pace. But with Jamie Spencer in the irons, he was unable to respond to the challenge of Intendant in the 1 1/4-mile event. The final time was 2:04.27 on a good course.

Imperial Dancer was third, followed by Scott's View, Deva, Gentle Tiger, Serenus, Next Gina, and Egerton.

The victory was the first in a stakes for the son of Lando out of Incenza, by Local Suitor. Trainer Andreas Bertram recorded his first group I success. Intendant was third in the German Derby Trial at Frankfurt before his disappointing Derby effort.

"I was confident he'd run a big race," Bertram told Racing Post. "He had all the things he needed, fast ground, a left-handed course, ten furlongs and a fast-run race."

Leve added, "We didn't expect to beat the foreigners but hope to be best of the Germans. Intendant couldn't act on the heavy ground at Hamburg but everything clicked today."