Caspar Netscher returns to training after fertility troubles

German classic winner Caspar Netscher, who finished eighth in the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, has returned to training after suffering from fertility problems in his first season at stud.

The 4-year-old English-bred son of Dutch Art entered stud this year at Morristown Lattin Stud in Naas, Ireland, but got only three of 54 mares covered in foal. Owner Charles Wentworth bought Caspar Netscher back for an undisclosed sum via a sealed bid process from an insurance company and returned the colt to training with David Simcock.

"I think it was in March I heard he had got only three mares in foal from 54, none of them mine, and as soon as I heard he was going to be on the market again I was keen to have him back,” Wentworth told Racing Post. “I'm delighted."

Previously trained by Alan McCabe, Caspar Netscher has won five of 16 career starts, earning $463,849. He won a pair of Group 2 events, the Gimcrack Stakes and the Mill Reef Stakes, in England as a juvenile. He went on to capture the following season’s German Two Thousand Guineas, and also added a win in the Group 3 Greenham Stakes in England.

In his most recent outing, Caspar Netscher finished fourth in the Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp in September.

Simcock, who has been training Caspar Netscher while the auction took place, says the colt’s early progress has been routine.

"He's done about five weeks' trotting and been very straightforward to deal with, but he hasn't done anything quick,” Simcock said. “I'm not going to put a date on when we hope to get him back on track, or what we might aim him for. His temperament is excellent and I don't see any need to consider gelding him.”