Goodwood Wednesday

Sussex Stakes (Group 1)

THE absence of Rosallion, who was off-colour, robbed the Group 1 Sussex Stakes of much of its lustre, and it’s a shame he missed out on a third clash with Notable Speech (Charlie Appleby/William Buick), who beat the Hannon colt in the 2000 Guineas before running below form in the St James’s Palace Stakes.

As it was, the Guineas winner put a lacklustre run at Ascot behind him to gain a second Group 1 success of the season, scoring by a length and a half at odds of 3/1 despite Buick dropping his whip in the closing stages.

Maljoom (William Haggas/Tom Marquand) made late headway to claim second without threatening the winner, with Factor Cheval (Jérôme Reynier/Maxime Guyon) a neck behind him in third.

Henry Longfellow had the run of the race from the front but could only finish fourth without obvious excuse, although Ryan Moore was reported to have said he was never comfortable on the track.

Powerful turn of foot

Notable Speech looked right back to the form which saw him get the better of Rosallion at Newmarket in May, tracking the pace before switching inside at the cutaway and unleashing a powerful turn of foot to settle the issue in a matter of strides.

There is very little to choose between him and Rosallion on overall form, and a rematch between the pair later in the summer will be much anticipated.

Speaking to ITV cameras, William Buick said: “Notable Speech was firing on all cylinders coming in here today. He’s a brilliant Guineas winner, with a very rare turn of foot. He showed that again today and I’m delighted.

“Full credit to Charlie and the whole team, they’ve done such a good job with him to get him back after a disappointing run in the St James’s Palace where he was obviously too bad to be true. He’s such a brilliant horse. He’s a horse that really excites you and it’s a real privilege to be riding him.”

LAST year it was Big Evs and 12 months on Big Mojo (Mick Appleby/Silvestre de Sousa) has given owner Paul Teasdale back-to-back wins in the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes, with owner and trainer hoping the 25/1 shot can follow in the footsteps of last year’s subsequent Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint hero.

A maiden when lining up here, having finished second at Beverley on his only previous start, Big Mojo showed his inexperience by starting slowly and running green in the first part of the race, but he travelled strongly, held up thereafter, and made relentless progress to lead in the last 100 yards.

Despite hanging left when in front, he went on to beat favourite Aesterius (Archie Watson/James Doyle) by three-quarters of a length.

The winner’s stable companion Mr Lightside (Rossa Ryan) might have been second but for taking a slight bump from the winner close home, but held third comfortably, less than a length behind the winner.

Speedball

The winner is clearly a speedball in the same mould as Big Evs, but with plenty still to learn about racing, and Silvestre de Sousa is clearly looking forward to the rest of the season with the son of Mohaather, telling the TV audience: “Big Mojo is an exciting horse and he’s improved a lot since his debut. It’s a nice way to break a maiden, in a Group 3 race, and he’s a pro horse. He’s only going to improve.

“He’s got a lot of speed and I like him over six as well. He’s a quality horse going forward, he’s strong physically but mentally he’s not there yet.”

THE most controversial race of the day on Wednesday was the Group 3 Visit Qatar Oak Tree Stakes, with Jabaara first past the post but drifting markedly right as she took the lead. The interference she caused to runner-up Raqiya (Owen Burrows/Jim Crowley) was deemed serious enough to see her demoted to second after a Stewards’ Inquiry.

In truth, Raqiya looked hard done by as she was hampered on the rail by the winner when coming with her run, and despite that she was able to switch and close Jabaara (Roger Varian/James Doyle) down to a head at the line, making a reversal look likely, and the eventual decision to promote Raqiya came as no surprise in the circumstances.

Outsider Ziggy’s Dream (Alice Haynes/Kieran O’Neill) was half a length back in third in a race which saw the first six home covered by a length and a quarter.

The 7/1 winner was benefitting from a step up in trip having been unplaced in the Summer Stakes at York on her previous start, whereas Jabaara was dropping from a mile after chasing home Porta Fortuna in the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket’s July Meeting.

It’s hard to rate the form too highly given the bunched finish, but the feeling is that Jabaara was the best filly who rather threw the race away by idling and diving right after a sharp change of gear had carried her easily to the front.