Preis von Europa (Group 1)

SEVEN horses, five four-year-olds and two three-year-olds are expected to line up for tomorrow’s 60th Preis von Europa at Cologne.

This race was originally one of the richest events in Europa, but now it is just an “ordinary” Group 1 with just €100,000 to the winner.

Recent editions have been relatively weak, but his time we have a good field, and Charlie Appleby’s Rebel’s Romance is likely to start a warm favourite to continue Godolphin’s worldwide winning run. The Dubawi gelding ran only on the all-weather at two and three, winning four times, including the UAE Derby, but has shown further improvement since being switched to turf this year, winning all three starts, including the Group 1 Grosser Preis von Berlin six weeks ago.

That makes him clearly the one to beat here. He finished well ahead of two of tomorrow’s opponents, and the main opposition this times comes from the last two winners of the German Derby, Sisfahan (2021) and Sammarco (this year).

Sisfahan missed much of this season with a hairline fracture, and has not run since a respectable seventh place in the Breeders’ Cup Turf last November. Connections have warned that he is likely to need the race, so Sammarco, a Camelot colt, looks the danger.

Since his narrow Hamburg victory he has won the Group 1 Grosser Dallmayr-Preis over 2000 metres at Munich and was a close third behind Mendocino and Torquator Tasso, who both run in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe next week.

Fillies

Amazing Grace, one of two fillies in the field, was a good runner-up to Sammarco at Munich and then won a Group 2 at Baden-Baden in convincing style over this trip of 2400 metres. The other filly, Gestüt Röttgen’s homebred Alaskasonne, finished a length in front of Amazing Grace in last year’s Preis der Diana (German Oaks), but on overall form the latter can be preferred now.

Alaskasonne made all when winning Group 3 ex-Spreti-Rennen at Baden-Baden last time and is the possible front-runner here, as most of the others are usually held up.

The other three-year-old in the field Assistent was fourth to Sammarco in the German Derby but was well held behind Rebel’s Romance at Hoppegarten, as was the tough and consistent Alter Adler, just behind Sammarco in the Grosser Preis von Baden.

Sisfahan, on 117, is narrowly the highest-rated runner, but that is based on last year’s form and there must be a slight doubt as to whether he can run to his best form after 10 months off the track. That leaves Rebel’s Romance and Sammarco to fight it out, with clear preference for the Godolphin runner.