STUD

HELMUT VON FINCK'S
GESTÜT PARK WIEDINGEN

Our stud farm Park Wiedingen is beautifully located in the heart of the Luneburg Heath in the northern part of Germany. The land was acquired by Helmut von Finck in 2000 and, since then, numerous highly successful horses have been bred on this land of which the Swiss geologist Jean André de Luc said in 1776 it had "remained entirely in the hands of nature."

Already in 1989 Helmut von Finck was passionate about thoroughbred breeding and the success with high quality mares and nationally and internationally acclaimed sires was not long in coming, as the top-stayer FLAMINGO PARADISE, the Gr.1 winner WAKY NAO and German Oaks heroine FLAMINGO ROAD proved, to name just a few of those initial breeding successes.

The first crop on homeland (2001) produced Stakes horses QSAR and KOONUNGA HILL as well as PEPPLES BEACH, the dam of group winner PRAKASA. In the following years we enjoyed watching many more top racehorses prospering in Wiedingen colors, among them the multiple group winner and runner-up in the G1 Dallmayr Preis PRECIOUS BOY, the top-stayer FLAMINGO FANTASY and the classic winner KALI as well as the consistent group winner DEVASTAR and the 2yo Champion 2015, DHABA.

Yet, the quality of our breeding operation was to gain further momentum when SOLDIER HOLLOW entered stud duty in 2008. The four-time Gr.1 winner, whom Helmut von Finck had acquired as a yearling in Great Britain, proved to be one of the best middle distance horses in the country for an unusual time span of six years. As a sire, he quickly made clear that he would pass on the strengths that had distinguished him as a race horse to his offspring: a great conformation, stamina and versatility, hardness and willingness to perform and, to quote the Hong Kong Jockey Club, "a sound mind."

The success of In The Wings-son was instant with colt named PASTORIUS from his first crop taking the German Derby in 2013. Since then, SOLDIER HOLLOW has been in the top of the German sire list and was crowned German Champion Sire 2016. The propelling impact on our own breeding was only a natural consequence. With WAI KEY STAR, FOSUN, NYMERIA and DIANA STORM Wiedingen-bred progeny of SOLDIER HOLLOW established themselves on the highest performance level and with the brother of the latter mentioned, DSCHINGIS SECRET, our stud was once again able to gain international attention when, in 2017, he impressively beat the future Arc runner-up Cloth Of Stars in the G2 Qatar Prix Foy. DSCHINGIS SECRET, who out of our top-mare DIVYA, topped the German rankings in that year with a GAG of 100 kg, which equals an RPR of 123 and was voted Horse of the Year 2017.

Buyers of Park Wiedinger horses also have enjoyed success on the national and international scale as, amongst others the Derby Italiano winner 2012, FEUERBLITZ, the Schwarzgold-winner QUELLE AMORE, and the Irish Derby winner 2008 FROZEN FIRE impressively demonstrate. In recent years, Hong Kong-based owner Horst Pudwill has achieved great success with our products whereby DSCHINGIS SECRET certainly is worth special mention.

A calm oasis of peace, the stud is nestled into 80 hectare of woodland with several small ponds, more than 30 hectare of pastureland and a total of 50 box stalls. Young horses are started here and receive their first workouts on a 10-furlong turf- and dirt track.