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German sensation Sea The Moon suffered an unexpected first defeat of his career when only second in the Grosser Preis Von Baden.

Not seen since his spectacular victory in the Deutsches Derby back in early July, Markus Klug's colt was reported not to be at peak fitness but was still fancied to take this Group One event before heading on to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Cristian Demuro found himself in front in the early stages but Sea The Moon could not cope with a strong run down the stands rail by Ivanhowe, who came well clear in the closing stages.

Sea The Moon had shown himself not to be the easiest ride in his previous four races, notably when drifting across the track last time for Christophe Soumillon, and he was keen and carried his head low for his latest pilot.

He had little left to offer when collared by Ivanhowe, who is trained by Jean-Pierre Carvalho and ridden by Filip Minarik.

A lightly-raced four-year-old, Ivanhowe won a Group Two at Cologne in May but had not been seen since finishing sixth in June's Grand Prix de Deauville.

Klug was in no way downhearted at the result and accepted it with a degree of inevitability when declaring: "I was pretty sure that he was not 100%, so it was not a bad performance. The race was as we expected, and we will run in the Arc."

Gebhard Apelt, representing Ivanhowe's owners Gestut Schlenderhan, said: "Running here rather than in a Longchamp trial was an ideal preparation. It gave us a week longer to bring him to concert pitch for the Arc.

"We are delighted to have a runner in the race. We always thought he was a very good horse, but he needed a good break after his run at Chantilly as he came back with a small foot problem."

For Minarik this was a dream come true and he said: "Two really good horses met each other today and the better one won on the day. His form has been inconsistent but he's the best I've ever ridden, that is for sure."