Hawkbill leads two-pronged Godolphin bid in Group 1 at Hoppegarten

127th Longines Grosser Preis Von Berlin | Group 1 | 3yo+ |

Godolphin will bid for a fourth win in the Grosser Preis von Berlin at Hoppegarten when Hawkbill and Racing History take on five rivals in a race the owners won in 2002 with their subsequent Arc winner Marienbard.

The Charlie Appleby-trained Hawkbill looks sure to go off a hot favourite for the event, won more recently by another subsequent Arc winner Danedream in 2011.

The four-year-old Hawkbill won the Coral-Eclipse last year and most recently made all to beat stablemate Frontiersman, the Coronation Cup runner-up, in the Group 2 Princess of Wales's Stakes at Newmarket.

William Buick had been due to fly back from Arlington to take the ride but after he was hurt in the incident that saw Permian fatally injured in the USA, James Doyle was drafted in on Sunday morning and will travel to Berlin instead.

Appleby said: "I was delighted with Hawkbill at Newmarket and this will probably be his last race before we give him a break ahead of the Canadian International in October.

"He's in good shape and if he can repeat his performance in the Princess of Wales’s Stake he'll take some beating."

The year-older Saeed Bin Suroor-trained Racing History managed only two public appearances last year and has not been on the racecourse since last November's second in another German Group 1, the Grosser Preis von Bayern at Munich.

Bin Suroor, who has booked Gerald Mosse for the ride, warns that Racing History will come on for the race but reports him in good form.

He said: "He's been working well. We're putting some cheekpieces on him just to help him focus during the race. We've done as much as we can at home, but I expect him to improve for his first start of the year."

The main danger to the Godolphin pair could be Dschingis Secret, whose two Group 2 wins this year include a six-length defeat of Sirius, the 2014 winner of this race and in the field once again, at Cologne in May.

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