David Conolly-Smith

COLOGNE’S Preis von Europa, to be run for the 53rd time tomorrow, used to be the most valuable race of the German season.

This is no longer the case, and in fact the prize money is less than it was 40 years ago, but it is still a good race and this year’s edition has attracted a good field.

The most interesting runner is Al Shaqab’s Dubday (Jassim al Ghazali/ Frankie Dettori), who actually started his career in Cologne with Andreas Trybuhl.

However, he has shown tremendously improved form since being sold to his present connections at the Arc Sale two years ago, and has been virtually unbeatable at Doha, winning both the Emir’s Trophy and the Gold Cup twice.

He has been based at Newmarket this summer and last time out won the Glorious Stakes at Goodwood from last week’s Newbury winner The Corsican.

French challenger Jeff Smith’s Cocktail Queen (Myriam Bollack-Badel/ Alexis Badel), also a five-year-old, could be the main threat, although she is a Deauville specialist, having won the Grand Prix there last year and finishing second this year.

She was well in front of the 2014 Preis von Europa winner Empoli (Peter Schiergen/ Adrie de Vries) then, and he tries to double up now, although Schiergen’s main hope should be the supplemented Nightflower (Andrasch Starke), runner-up on her last two starts in the German Oaks and Grosser Preis von Baden. Ito (Jean-Pierre Carvalho/ Filip Minarik) was the hot favourite for the latter race until his late withdrawal after he was found to be running a temperature, but is reported back in rude health now.

Local trainer Andreas Löwe is also doubly represented, but his runners Sirius (Fabrice Veron) and Amona (Eddy Hardouin) have both finished behind Nightflower recently.

Ito is just top-rated here and looks clearly the top German prospect, but Dubday is the one to beat and can give Dettori his fourth success in this event.