Grosser Preis von Baden (Group 1)

TOMORROW’S Group 1 Grosser Preis von Baden, often Germany’s brest race of the season, looked like cutting up badly at the beginning of the week, but two supplementary entries, one from France and the other from Britain, have saved the day and it is now an intriguing affair with an international flavour.

The other six likely runners are all German-trained, and the two most interesting are the four-year-old Torquator Tasso and the three-year-old Sisfahan, who has not been seen out since winning the Germany Derby two months ago.

The general feeling is that last year’s Derby, when Torquator Tasso was runner-up, was a much stronger affair than this year’s edition.

Torquator Tasso is indeed a very reliable campaigner and already a winner at this level; he is being aimed at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and really would need to win here in order to go to Paris with a legitimate chance, but it would be unwise to underrate the younger colt, who is very lightly raced and probably still capable of considerable improvement.

His trainer Henk Grewe has started the Baden-Baden meeting in great form and the weight-for-age scale is arguably in his favour.

Sisfahan could well be accompanied by the same connections’ Isfahani, a three-year-old filly, who last time out finished runner-up in this year’s Preis der Diana (German Oaks), but she has an alternative entry in a Group 2 on Saturday.

Supplementary

In any case the two supplementary entries look the main dangers to the two obvious runners listed above. Trainer Stefanie Nigge has supplanted Gerard August-Normand’s Millebosc, whose best form was a third place in this season’s Prix du Jockey Club. That form gives him a clear chance, but he has since run rather disappointingly in Deauville, when second last in the Prix Guillaume d’Ornano, so he has questions to answer.

The British supplementary however is the much-improved five-year-old Passion And Glory, a Godolphin homebred by Cape Cross, trained by Saeed bin Suroor.

He is on a steep upward curve and has won all his three 2021 starts in good style including last time out at Glorious Goodwood, but this opposition is the strongest he has ever faced and he will need further improvement to score here.

This certainly looks possible and he will have the assistance of Oisin Murphy in the saddle. Godolphin has an excellent record in the race and has won the last three runnings; Charlie Appleby was the trainer of the last two, but Saeed bin Suroor also knows well enough what is required.