Prince Gibraltar earns Breeders' Cup berth with Group 1 win in Germany

Prince Gibraltar, who struggled in Group 2 races in France and England in May and July, won Sunday’s $278,000 Grosser Preis Von Baden at Baden-Baden Racecourse in Germany.

The Group 1 Grosser Preis Von Baden was part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program, offering a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland on Oct. 31, if the winner is eligible to the Breeders’ Cup program.

After Sunday’s race, Prince Gibraltar was considered more of a candidate to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on Oct. 4 than the BC Turf.

Ridden by Fabrice Veron, Prince Gibraltar, the 3-2 favorite, closed from last of seven to win the race at 1 1/2 miles on turf by 1 3/4 lengths over Nightflower. Sirius finished third.

Goldstream, fourth in the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park on Aug. 15, finished fifth after racing in contention with a quarter-mile remaining. There was notable absence from the field in Ito, who was second in the Grosser Preis Von Berlin on Aug. 9, but missed this race because of a temperature.

Prince Gibraltar, by Rock of Gibraltar, was seventh in the 2014 Arc. Owned by Jean-Francois Gribomont and trained by Jean-Claude Rouger, Prince Gibraltar won the Group 2 Prix Greffulhe in France in May 2014, and was later third in the 2014 French Derby. Prior to Sunday’s race, Prince Gibraltar was third in the Group 2 York Stakes in England in July.