Overdose Shows He’s Still A Force

Hungary’s most famous sporting celebrity, Overdose, returned to action in Germany at the weekend bidding to put behind him the memory of a miserable experience at Baden Baden last August when he lost for the first time in his colourful 15-race career. To the delight of his fans it was business as usual, as the ‘Budapest Bullet’ routed the local opposition over five furlongs, writes Elliot Slater.

Everything that could possibly go wrong did go wrong in Germany last year as Overdose for the first time in his career appeared very fractious and ill at ease in the preliminaries for the Group 2 Goldene Peitsche and at the start, where for 10 minutes he refused to go into the stalls and twice threw Christophe Soumillon to the ground. After eventually consenting to go into the stalls having suffered a bang on the head on a previous attempt to load, Overdose ran with the choke out for three furlongs then dropped tamely away to suffer the first defeat of his illustrious career. Those who had backed him with a horse race bet would have been deeply disappointed.

Understandably trainer Josef Riszoval was nervous about bringing Overdose back before his adoring fans in Europe, but he needn’t have worried as, despite being on his toes and sweating profusely, the six-year-old son of Starborough never gave supporters a moment’s worry, breaking well under star German jockey Andreas Suborics and storming away to win by an easy six-lengths from local opposition at Hoppegarten in a time clocked at 54.1 seconds. If that figure is correct, then it would confirm a new track record by an astounding three seconds.

British racing fans look to be the next to be treated to a view of Overdose as connections intend to send him to Haydock on May 21 for the Group 2 Temple Stakes, after which he is scheduled to makes his Royal Ascot debut in the King’s Stand Stakes.