Touch My Soul, who went into winter quarters as the German Oaks favorite but bled from both nostrils in her debut at 3, proved the incident was a fluke by winning the Group 3 Credit Suisse-Rennen Hanshin Cup Hamburger Stutenpreis at Hamburg on Saturday under severely testing conditions.

"It takes almost as long to verbalize the name of the race as it did to run it!" laughed Barry Irwin about the event that picked up a sponsor in banking institution Credit Suisse when heavy ground conditions forced the event to be held over from Wednesday to Saturday, where Japanese sister city Hanshin shared the billing.

"I can see now why trainer Peter Schiergen was so intent upon running her. She won impressively over extremely heavy ground, was tested twice in the race and came away with full honors."

Because of the heavy under-hoof conditions at rain-drenched Hamburg Horse race course in the northern part of Germany, a starting gate was unable to be used, so a flag-fall beginning was employed.

The handlers and starters are to be commended, as they dispatched the field away smoothly. As if the filly required any more hiccups in her return to racing following a 3-month break, regular rider and course expert Andreas Starke broke a finger the day before, so the filly was ridden by substitute jockey Andrasch Suborics, a tip-top reinsman in his own right.

Touch My Soul may be the best Classic-distance filly of her generation.

Touch My Soul was rated third most of the way, with Waky Love setting the tempo in front of her and Spring Flower boxing her in on the outside, as the leaders searched for the best ground on a course that was limited in width because tall plastic poles had been placed about 6 feel out from the temporary rail.

As the field rounded the bend into the homestretch, Suborics brought Touch My Soul inside of Waky Love to challenge, but the rider aboard the leader moved her over in an outlandish attempt to block the Team Valor filly's progress and literally pin her against the rail.

Suborics stayed cool, tapped his mount once straightened out and she began to pull away. Wacky Love was not finished, however, and she battled back gamely to look like a renewed threat with about 100 yards left in the one-mile race.

But Suborics had plenty in the tank, he exhorted his mount again and she drew off in the end to score by 2 lengths. It was another half-dozen back to Spring Flower. Touch My Soul was sent off as the odds-on 4 to 5 favorite.

Dirk Eisler, the bloodstock agent Team Valor uses in Germany and the fellow who came up with the filly, drove home the following day from Hamburg with trainer Peter Schiergen.

"Peter says she will get a lot out of the race," noted Eisler. "He is happy to run her in Chicago for the Beverly D Stakes. The jockey said that 10 furlongs is no problem for her."

Timeform gave the filly a 107 rating for the race, which is a lifetime topper by 7 points, as she earned a 100 rating when second at 2 over a mile at Baden-Baden last fall in Germany's championship event.

Touch My Soul, who doubled her career earnings to about $86,000 by earning approximately $43,500 on Saturday, now sports a record from 4 starts of 2 wins and 2 places.