Equinties - Glorious Goodwood day 3

Gm Equinauts

NOTE: this is a tricky day to preview. We just have no idea if the forecast thunderstorms will come. The going is currently quick, but will the rain change the play?

Yesterday was full of surprises too!

Glorious Goodwood was left in utter silence yesterday after Britain’s best race horse, FIELD OF GOLD, was left running put the back of the picture yesterday in the Goodwood’s Group 1 Sussex Stakes.

The winner, amazingly, was 150/1 QIRAT who we tipped up in the Royal Hunt Cup at RA lol!

Before yesterday, he was a f*cking handicapper.

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUNDUP

MUDDLING AFFAIR

Do you remember the last time Juddmonte put a pacemaker in a race? Maybe we’re missing one that’s pretty obvious, but the most immediate one that pops into our head is BULLET TRAIN for FRANKEL.

Ballydoyle have always implemented pacemakers, and even Godolphin have had a little dabble in this scene here and there.

This season, John Gosden picked up some flack for not giving FIELD OF GOLD a pacemaker to aim at, and some people were saying that a pacemaker in the Guineas would have helped tremendously.

Whether he listened or not, who knows, but Juddmonte decided to pull the trigger and supplement QIRAT for the Group 1 Sussex Stakes in order to make the way for FIELD OF GOLD’s inevitable coronation.

Well, that was the plan on paper, but as we know now, the race didn’t go as expected.

Yes, on July 30th, 2025, QIRAT won the Sussex Stakes at 150/1. Quite incredible.

Where do we start? Well, let’s go to the race itself. It was a mess.

SERENGETI was meant to set the pace for Ballydoyle, but he broke slowly and had to make up for lost time. By the time he did, Richard Kingscote had already settled QIRAT into a lovely rhythm on the front end.

Fast forward to the bend, and they were stretched out like a National Hunt Chase on soft ground. Honestly, if you haven’t already, watch the full race back, and have a look at how the field looks on the bend. It was fairly staggering.

And then, just when we thought the likes of FIELD OF GOLD’s, ROSALLION, and HENRI MATISSE were going to close on the pace setters, QIRAT found enough and won. ROSALLION and Sean Levey gave it their best shot, but ultimately, the former Irish Guineas winner was given too cold a ride, and that cost him. He even briefly eye-balled QIRAT, but the second-string Juddmonte horse found more.

What do we have to say about this race? Uh, not too much. Aidan was a bit perplexed himself:

Sometimes, racing can throw up a shock result. Just look at PONIROS in the Triumph Hurdle, for example.

Ralph Beckett, his trainer, admitted that QIRAT was simply in there to be a pacemaker, but he also said to Kingscote pre-race that if he was still there with a chance, he will continue to fight.

He’s a nice horse, but there’s no chance he was the best horse in that race. The jockeys in behind got it wrong, and there are actually questions to ask about the two three-year-olds. Probably less so FIELD OF GOLD as the performance can just be put down to ‘being on an off day’, but HENRI MATISSE had a chance to reel them in, and he didn’t. Hmm.

In conclusion, the Sussex was a bit of a mess, and we can all move on from it. FIELD OF GOLD is now a bigger price for the Juddmonte International (5/1) if you want to back him, QIRAT has ruined his mark for the Balmoral, and the game is still great.
Away from hilarious results in Group 1 contests, let’s highlight a proper performance.

The one to talk about is LADY IMAN in yesterday’s Group 3 Molecomb Stakes, because she was very, very good. It seems like they can’t go fast enough for her, and this idea leans into a race and could be going into next.

Get Lyons, her trainer, said: “I dropped the ball and I didn't listen to Colin [Keane], who I feel for today. He always said she was about speed. She's been very straightforward from day one.

"I got such a buzz out of Del Mar last year that I'd like to be going back there with something special and, if I'm allowed, that's where I will go with her. 

"As Ryan just said, if she gets a low draw at Del Mar she'll win it. She's proper. He said about the Nunthorpe, too, and if that's what he says and it's what the owners want to do, we'll go there." 

She really is just quite good. Her form of beating TRUE LOVE is great, and while they got it wrong by trying to test her at six furlongs, connections have learnt from that ahead of the rest of the season.

Quite simply, she will take some whacking in the Nunthorpe, and the same can be said for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. LADY IMAN is a proper one.

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