A field of seven line up in the Qatar Sussex Stakes at Goodwoord Racecourse on Wednesday. (Photo credit: Goodwood Racecourse).
A select, but high-quality field of seven will go to post for Wednesday’s Qatar Goodwood Festival showpiece, the Qatar Sussex Stakes.
The Group 1 mile showpiece, which forms part of the QIPCO British Champions Series, has attracted QIPCO 2000 Guineas hero Kameko, Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas star Siskin, Royal Ascot winner Circus Maximus, and not to mention the highly-touted Mohaather who recently won the Summer Mile at Ascot.
The winner stamps a ticket to the TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) at Keeneland on Nov. 7 as part of the “Win and You’re In” Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series.
Irish 2000 Guineas winner Siskin heads the current market and will be looking to preserve his unbeaten run for Ger Lyons and Colin Keane and owner, Prince Khalid Abdullah.
The last horse to still be unbeaten after winning the Qatar Sussex Stakes was the mighty Frankel, the only two-time winner of the race.
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Andrew Balding is no stranger to the course and won the 2017 renewal of the Sussex Stakes with Here Comes When, who relished the heavy ground after torrential rain. He will not want similar conditions for Kameko, who won the QIPCO 2000 Guineas in a record time under Champion Jockey Oisin Murphy at Newmarket last month. Kameko, who in common with Siskin was a Group 1 winner as a two-year-old, has since finished a fine fourth in the Investec Derby and the step back to a mile sure to be in his favour on Wednesday.
Sisken Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas
Despite being boxed in throughout, SISKIN runs through the line powerfully to win the Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas ? pic.twitter.com/K4iGO1WdOL
— Champions Series (@ChampionsSeries) June 12, 2020
Marcus Tregoning will be represented by his Ascot Summer Mile winner, Mohaather for owner Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum in the iconic blue and white silks.
Tregoning is seeking his first Group 1 win since landing the Derby with Sir Percy in 2006 and said: “It’s a tough order but I don’t think we could have Mohaather any better and he deserves a crack at it. He took his race in the Summer Mile very well and was back cantering the next day.
Aidan O’Brien, his trainer, seeking a fifth Qatar Sussex Stakes victory, said: “Ryan [Moore] will tell you that Circus Maximus only just does enough to win. At home he will do the same thing, no matter what you work him with. He will just about put his head in front of a horse, or wait for a horse. We don’t know what his limit is.”
Wednesday’s race at Goodwood Racecourse looks set to be a thrilling contest, with all seven horses seeking to gain a foothold in the QIPCO British Champions Series Mile Category.
Declarations:
Circus Maximus, Kameko, Mohaather, San Donato, Siskin, Vatican City, Wichita
