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| Winners of this season’s English, Irish, French and German 2,000 Guineas feature alongside top older performers Inspiral and Facteur Cheval in the 39 entries for the G1 Qatar Sussex Stakes at Goodwood on Wednesday, July 31. With a total prize fund of £1 million, the mile showpiece is the most valuable race of the Qatar Goodwood Festival and forms part of the QIPCO British Champions Series. Unbeaten colt Notable Speech (Charlie Appleby) and Rosallion are the early standard-bearers for the Classic generation, with the duo having dominated the finish of the G1 QIPCO 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. Rosallion went one better in the G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas over the weekend, when he overhauled stable-mate Haatem to give trainer Richard Hannon a memorable one-two. G1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains victor Metropolitan (Mario Baratti) features among a four-strong contingent from France. Facteur Cheval finished second in last year’s Qatar Sussex Stakes and the five-year-old made a winning start to 2024 with victory in the G1 Dubai Turf. His trainer Jerome Reynier has also entered the unexposed Lazzat, who is undefeated in four career starts. Devil’s Point (David Menuisier), who captured the British Stallion Studs John Dunlop EBF Conditions Stakes at Goodwood on May 3, has since secured Classic honours of his own in the G2 German 2,000 Guineas. Deirdre provided Japan with an historic win at the 2019 Qatar Goodwood Festival and the country may be represented again by the Yasutoshi Ikee-trained Soul Rush. Narrowly denied in Tokyo’s G1 Mile Championship in November, the six-year-old made a successful comeback in G2 company at Kyoto last month and is due to line up in this weekend’s G1 Yasuda Kinen. The older generation also features John & Thady Gosden’s six-time G1 scorer Inspiral and her stable-mate Audience, who was a surprise winner of Newbury‘s G1 Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes. Ed Arkell, Director of Racing at Goodwood, said: “We are once again delighted with the quality of entries for the Qatar Sussex Stakes, which is always an incredibly competitive race as the first all-aged Group One mile race in Europe. “To receive entries from all around the world highlights the international importance of the meeting and we are hugely grateful to owners and trainers for supporting the race once again.” A full list of entries can be accessed here. There is a scratchings deadline for the Qatar Sussex Stakes on Tuesday, July 9, with the six-day confirmation and £70,000 supplementary entry stage following on Thursday, July 25. Entries for the other G1 contests at the Qatar Goodwood Festival – the £500,000 Qatar Goodwood Cup and the £600,000 Qatar Nassau Stakes will be released on Tuesday, June 25. |
