Germany has not won the Group 1 Grosser Preis von Berlin (2400m) since Torquator Tasso’s victory in 2020, and the domestic team will be aiming for victory against another year of strong international opposition.

In this year’s renewal, the home challenge will be headed by the Andreas Wohler-trained Dardanos, who takes on older horses for the first time.

Successful in a 2050m Dortmund maiden on his seasonal reappearance, Dardanos subsequently stepped up in class for the Listed Hoffnungspreis – Derby Trial over the same course and distance, finishing one length behind Quitos. The further rise to 2400m proved transformative in the Group 1 Deutsches Derby at Hamburg, where the son of Soldier Hollow caused a major upset at odds of 84.8-1 - the highest winning price in the race’s history.

“He needed the last race, but then he had really improved again, but we didn't know how much,” acknowledged Wohler, after Dardanos’ Deutsches Derby success. “Winning the Derby always is and always will be so very special.”

The Yasmin Almerader-trained Hochkonig and Gabian Xaver Weismeir’s Global Health represents the best of the domestic older horses. A son of Polish Vulcano, Hochkonig was successful in last year’s Group 1 Deutsche Derby (2400m) and demonstrated a return to somewhere near his best when second in the Group 2 Grosser Preis von Tattersalls (2200m) at Baden-Baden.

Global Health comes into the race in search of a hat-trick after a victory in the Group 2 Grosser Hansa-Preis (2400m), where he easily defeated Hochkonig (fourth) for a first Stakes win. Having previously struggled in Group company, the five-year-old will need to prove he can replicate the form of his Grosser Hansa-Preis success.

Andreas Suboric’s Bright Light, by City Light, could also play a role. A lightly-raced three-year-old, the son of Bright Light was fourth in the Group 1 Derby Italiano (2200m) before a fifth in Group 3 company at Berlin.