FOR the second time in a fortnight a Godolphin-owned four-year-old trained by Saeed bin Suroor took Germany’s top weekend race when Irish-bred Best Solution won a dramatic race for the Group 1 Grosser Preis von Berlin at Hoppegarten, just two weeks after Benbatl had taken the Group 1 Grosser Dallmayr-Preis at Munich.

Both horses could be on a plane to Australia in the near future, as bin Suroor indicated that the Cox Plate could be on the cards for Benbatl and the Melbourne Cup for Best Solution, although in both cases nothing is yet settled.

STEADY PACE

Best Solution, under Pat Cosgrave, was slowly away in Berlin and was one of the back markers as Royal Youmzain, the only three-year-old in the field, set a steady pace, followed by last year’s winner Dschingis Secret – the two of them having started joint-favourites at 2/1.

Coming into the straight Royal Youmzain tried to go for home but could not shake off Dschinhgis Secret, who looked very dangerous while Sound Check was moving into contention on the outside and Cosgrave was looking for his way through.

He was still four lengths behind the leaders with a furlong to go but found the gap and quickened in excellent style. Best Solution was fastest of all in the final stages and only hit the front with 50 yards to go, scoring by a neck from the staying-on Sound Check, with Royal Youmzain, who stuck to his guns, a creditable third only half a length back, and Dschingis Secret, who was hampered by Sound Check and Best Solution, weakening into fourth. They finished eight lengths clear of the other three runners.

The stewards looked into the interference suffered by Dschingis Secret but concluded that it did not affect the result, and jockey Adrie de Vries admitted that he was already beaten at the time, although Cosgrave was given a small fine.

It was a first Group 1 success for Best Solution but well deserved. He was beaten twice in Germany last year, but has clearly improved since then and the way he finished here suggested that the Melbourne Cup is a realistic target.

This is despite the fact that he is by Kodiac, better known as a sire of sprinters and in fact leading sire of two-year-olds in Europe this year. However, there is plenty of stamina in the bottom line, as he is from the immediate family of Arc winner Workforce, St. Leger winner Brian Boru and Great Voltigeur winner Sea Moon.

The handicapper has left him on 118, which seems a feasible rating for Flemington, while he has raised Sound Check (who could run next in the Irish St. Leger) to 117 and Royal Youmzain, who ran really well in third and was obviously a reluctant leader, to 114. Royal Youmzain was earlier an unlucky third in the German Derby and could well meet the first two from that race in Baden-Baden in two weeks’ time.