Meandre, owned by Ramzan Kadirov and trained by Arslangirej Savujev in the Czech Republic, appeared to win the Preis von Europa (Group 1, 2400 m, €155 000, 3-y-o +) fair and square at Cologne on September 22nd,  but he was strangely moved down to 3rd place after an stewards’ inquiry. The second past the post, Empoli, was moved down to 4th place. The race was awarded to well-beaten Vif Monsieur. The head-on camera appears to show that Meandre did nothing to spoil the chances of Vif Monsieur, or of any of the others, and it seems pretty sure that he will, or should, get the race back on an appeal. See for yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxZX7jDvKEs

Winning a Group 1 race in Germany is just about the best performance of the year by a Czech-trained horse, and trainer Arslangirej Savujev was understandably distressed.

French-bred Meandre is by Slickly out of Penne (Sevres Rose).