Panther on the prowl
It is a huge weekend of sport in the city, with heavyweight champions David Haye and Wladimir Klitschko going toe to toe in the boxing ring in the Imtech Arena tonight.
Tomorrow, Brown Panther will be another British hope bidding for success , having impressed with a six-length victory in the King George V Handicap at Royal Ascot.
His trainer said: “He has seemed fine since Ascot. He’s put on all the weight he lost and we’re very happy with him.
“We’re going to learn a lot more about the horse as it’s a massive step up.
“I hear they’ve had 10 hours of rain, but the ground is what it is.
“What it is on Sunday is what we’re going to run on – there’s no point worrying about it.
“It is another step up, but we wouldn’t be sending him if we weren’t fairly hopeful he’d be up to it.”
The son of Shirocco is owned and was bred by Manchester United striker Michael Owen, who has fond memories of Germany, having scored a hat-trick for England in a 5-1 victory 10 years ago.
Owen, who has invested millions in horse racing, knows enough about the sport to understand his pride and joy faces his toughest ever task in this race.
“He’s only won a handicap, after all, as much as it was a fantastic day at Royal Ascot,” said Owen.
“He’s not done anything yet, in many ways, though I suppose the manner of the victory was very impressive.
“We love him, we think he’s a top-class horse, and hopefully he can prove that in Germany.
“It’s hard to gauge the German form so we’ll be doing our homework, but we think we’ve got a good draw in two, so that’s handy.”
