Wednesday’s Sussex Stakes at Goodwood was billed beforehand as ‘the Duel on
the Downs,’ and the Group 1 contest did not disappoint as Toronado finished with
a wet-sail to beat his big rival Dawn Approach by a half-length with Richard
Hughes aboard.
Toronado, who received a big cheer from the crowd, had lost out to Dawn
Approach in both the Two Thousand Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes, and
winning training Richard Hannon was pleased to set the record straight.
“I’d say they are two top-class horses,” Hannon said. “I told Hughesie to
drop in, it was the only thing he could do from that draw. I didn’t want him to
catch the pacemakers coming back. It was looking difficult two furlongs out but
our horse has a hell of a turn of foot.
“Hughesie rode him at home four or five days ago and said he was the best
he’d ever ridden, even better than Canford Cliffs, who was a very good work
horse.
Looking to the future, Hannon’s son and assistant Richard added: “We’ll see
how he comes out of this but the Jacques le Marois and the Queen Elizabeth II
Stakes are the obvious races. He’ll stick to a mile this year but he’ll stay in
training next season when perhaps he could step up to 10 furlongs at some
point.”
“My plan was ‘wide, fast and late’ and luckily it worked,” Hughes said. “I
didn’t want to get into a battle with Dawn Approach so I wanted to get there
late and fast. When I kicked him in the belly he was not as instant on that
ground as he would have been on fast ground. It was a great race and, when I
didn’t go by Dawn Approach quickly I thought ‘oh no here we go again,’ but he
was very brave. He’s brilliant.”
Jim Bolger, trainer of Dawn Approach, said: “It was a top performance. We
were just beaten by a better horse on the day.
“I am not concerned with a rematch. We still have to figure out exactly where
we go from here. Whatever turns up, turns up. There are a couple of
possibilities but time will tell all.”
Kevin Manning was banned for four days (August 14-17) following his ride on
Dawn Approach when found to have used his whip above the permitted level.
Declaration of War may break new ground after his third place-finish to
Toronado and Dawn Approach. After winning the Queen Anne Stakes over a mile, the
son of War Front stepped up to 10 furlongs to run second in the Eclipse Stakes.
And he may drop back in distance later in the season.
“He has a lot of speed, this horse, and he certainly won’t be going beyond a
mile again,” trainer Aidan O’Brien said. “In fact, we wouldn’t be afraid of
going the other way. A race like the Haydock Sprint Cup (over six furlongs)
would be a definite possibility.”
Of Declaration of War’s Sussex performance — he was beaten three lengths by
the winner — O’Brien said he was satisfied under the circumstances.
“We knew he was taking on two very good three-year-olds, and he ran very
well. Ideally, he’d want faster ground; it looked as if his wheels were spinning
a bit today,” he said.
Toormore, described by Richard Hughes as “one of the nicest two-year-olds in
the yard,” continued the tremendous Goodwood record of the rider and trainer
Richard Hannon. In the Group 2 Vintage Stakes, the son of Arakan gave Hughes his
third winner of Glorious week, and Hannon his fourth.
Hughes swooped typically late to take the seven-furlong contest by a neck
from fellow previous maiden winner Outstrip, with Coventry Stakes runner-up
Parbold 1 1/2 lengths third.
“He’s a big baby mentally and physically still, so he did well there, the
second horse kept on well and mine had three lengths to make up,” Hughes said.
“He’ll get a mile easily in time, and though the Guineas is being talked about
already, that’s a long way away. He is one of our nicest two-year-olds but he’ll
have to fill out and develop a bit more before he’s the real deal.”
“We left him out of Royal Ascot because he was a bit weak, and he still is,”
said Hannon’s assistant and son Richard. “It looks as if he wants a mile now,
and the Royal Lodge and the Dewhurst Stakes are races that will be on his agenda
later in the season.”
Outstrip just failed to outstrip all when he went down by a neck, though
connections were far from disappointed with the the Godolphin homebred’s
display. This was only Outstrip’s second run, his first being a impressive
maiden win at Newmarket in June
“He’s run a super race and looked like winning everywhere but the line,” said
Simon Crisford, racing Manager for Godolphin. “He’s a nice colt. Seven furlongs
next time — we will keep him to that trip.
“He showed a really good turn of foot when (jockey) Mickael (Barzalona) asked
him to go, the winner just came past us at the line but our colt is good. He
will run in races like the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster — those are his long
term targets.”
Cap O’Rushes, with Mickael Barzalona up, stepped away from his role as
Godolphin pacemaker into the spotlight as classic candidate in his own right by
taking the Gordon Stakes by a determined head from Excess Knowledge. In the
process he marked a significant landmark for his trainer Charlie Appleby, who
recently took over the beleaguered Moulton Paddocks division of Sheikh
Mohammed’s Godolphin operation.
In the 12-furlong Group 3 event, Cap O’Rushes was Appleby’s first Group
winner with his first Group runner, and also made it one-for-one for him at
Goodwood. The son of New Approach finished fourth in the Irish Derby at The
Curragh last month, with his better-fancied stablemate Libertarian unplaced.
“It didn’t work out for Libertarian but Cap O’Rushes ran a really good race,”
Appleby said. “We brought him back home and freshened him up, and he’s come on
since then.
“We were quite confident today, the way he’s progressed in the past few
weeks. He saw the trip out really well and really appreciated the cut in the
ground, as a horse with his short action would. We’ll take it one step at a time
with him but the plan would be the Great Voltigeur and then the St Leger.”
Cap O’Rushes may meet Libertarian again in the Great Voltigeur Stakes at
York, but this time on his own merits.
“Libertarian has had a break since Ireland and we’d be quite happy to run
both of them at York,” Appleby said.
Excess Knowledge is heading to the St Leger after finishing a luckless
second.
“If you get stopped, you get stopped. One wandered in front of ours and we
then had to get going again,” trainer John Gosden said.
“The Leger must be on his agenda and we’ll see where we go from here. Arctic
Cosmos got beaten here and then won at Doncaster and we could go straight there
or look at the Great Voltigeur. Today was a good Leger trial but there was no
pace.”
Third-placed Spillway delighted trainer Eve Johnson Houghton, who said: “He’s
still a big green baby, even with all the racing he has had. It’s great to get
black-type because his owner-breeder Luke (Neale) has the mare.
“I made a mistake running him in the wrong race at Royal Ascot, we should
have gone for the King Edward VII Stakes. He will improve next year but will
probably go for the St Leger. He’s in the Great Voltigeur and I don’t see why he
won’t run there.”
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