Army on the march to Melbourne

Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor is expecting Elite Army to recapture his old form in Germany at the weekend, just prior to entering quarantine for a trip to Australia.

Elite Army faces seven rivals in Sunday's G1 Preis Von Europa, over a mile and a half at Cologne, as a prelude to the G1 Emirates Melbourne Cup at Flemington on November 1.

He will attempt to put behind him disappointing recent runs at the Newmarket July Meeting and Goodwood.

"He is going well now," Saeed reported. "This will be his last run before shipping to Australia, and we are hoping he returns to the form he produced at Ascot in May and June," he added.

One of his chief rivals on Sunday is Red Cardinal, who finished a creditable third in the G3 Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury on his most recent outing.