THE Group 1 German Oaks at Düsseldorf tomorrow, or to give it its correct name, the 161st Henkel Preis der Diana, is the big race this weekend in Germany. It is the second most valuable race of the German season, after the Deutsches Derby, and like that race the runners are listed in handicap order on the race card.

In theory therefore, they should finish in the order one-two-three-four, and this almost happened in the Derby. However, that seemed to be a very clear-cut race, whereas the Diana, as it is usually known, looks wide open and almost any of the 13 runners, all German-trained, could win.