BADEN-BADEN SUNDAY

145TH LONGINES GROSSER PREIS VON BADEN (GROUP 1)

SEVEN horses have been declared for Sunday’s Group 1 Grosser Preis von Baden over 2,400 metres, Germany’s most prestigious race and the highlight of Baden-Baden’s ‘Grosse Woche’.

The only foreign runners are the two Godolphin representatives, Prize Money (Martin Lane) and Best Solution (William Carson, whose grandfather Willie won the race in 1976 on outsider Sharper). Both are trained in Newmarket by Saeed bin Suroor, who himself trained the winner in 2002 and 2003.

Both should be respected here, although both of them ran in the Munich Group 1 five weeks ago won by Iquitos (trained by Hans-Jürgen Gröschel), who reopposes on the same terms this time. Best Solution was runner-up then and Prize Money finished sixth, a further eight lengths back.

The distance this time is two furlongs further, which should certainly suit Iquitos, who won the race last year and is likely to start favourite.

OPPOSITION

However, Iquotos is likely to face strong opposition from the three Markus Klug-trained runners, and in particular Windstoss (Adrie de Vries), running for the first time since his convincing victory in the German Derby two months ago.

The ground was very soft that day in Hamburg, and following a lot of midweek rain, conditions could be similar on Sunday.This would certainly be to the advantage of Windstoss, who won the Derby well enough, although it cannot be said that the form of the race has worked out well.

Stable companion Colomano (Eduardo Pedroza) was the beaten favourite in the Derby, where he was struck into, and has since finished fourth in the Grosser Preis von Berlin. The third Klug runner, Spend The Cash (Martin Seidl), faces a stiff task.

The only non-Godolphin and non-Klug runner in the field is Guignol (Jean-Pierre Carvalho) and he looks a big danger to them all. He has met Iquitos already several times and there is little between them – indeed they are the two top-rated runners here on 118.

It could be a battle of tactics, with Guignol having shown a preference for front-running, while Iquitos is best when held up in last place off a strong pace.

No doubt both teams are trying to figure out the best way to turn the race to their advantage.