Ito and Prince Gibraltar set to battle it out for Longines Grosser Preis von Baden

Run over a distance of 2400 metres, the Longines Grosser Preis von Baden is one of the top events of the entire racing season in Germany with some 250,000 euros up for grabs for the winner

The race is the culmination of the Great Week – or “Grosse Woche”– Germany’s Royal Ascot as it is called by some, and certainly lives up to its name with many of the leading horses of the German turf on show at one of the most beautiful and important racecourse in the country.

The meetings at Iffezheim include no fewer than ten group races, more than any other racecourse in Germany, with one Group One race - the Longines Grosser Preis von Baden, three Group Two and seven Group Three events on the Great Festival Week’s programme.

The Longines Grosser Preis von Baden is Germany’s showpiece race and is set to feature Italian Derby winner Goldstream and Ito, who was second to Second Step in the Grosser Preis Von Berlin last time out.

Ito could follow in the footsteps of last year's winner IvanHowe who caused an upset by defeating odds-on favourite Sea The Moon .

IvanHowe overcame Sea The Moon to unexpectedly claim the crown and in doing so also saw the latter’s unbeaten record at the time go with it in the corresponding race 12 months ago.

Ito is well known in Iffezheim having won here back in the spring however the Jean-Claude Rouget-trained Prince Gibraltar (ridden by Fabrice Veron) will provide a tough test for the home contingent of horses, and is certainly the main challenger for Ito.

Although Derby winner is Nutan not at the start, its owner, the Freiburger banker Jürgen Imm has another hot iron in the Grand Prix fire in the shape of with Nightflower, to be ridden by Andrasch Starke.

Other horses to watch for include Palace Prince who already featured well in the German Derby by coming in second to Nutan before going on to win his first group race in Krefeld.

Trainer Andreas Löwe also has another fancied prospect lined up in the shape of Sirius who equally comes with good credentials and will provide a stern challenge.

The Longines Grosser Preis von Baden is due off at Iffezheim, Baden Baden, Germany at 3.50pm BST on Sunday.