Paddington will be bidding to emulate one of Aidan O'Brien's all-time greats when he faces five rivals in Wednesday's £1,000,000 Qatar Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, a “Win and You're In” race for the Breeders' Cup Mile this fall at Santa Anita Park.
The 3-year-old's sequence of Group 1 wins at a mile and a mile and a quarter has inevitably invited comparisons with O'Brien's 'Iron Horse', Giant's Causeway, who beat Dansili in a thrilling Sussex Stakes 23 years ago after winning both the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown, the latter after an epic duel with Kalanisi.
After winning the Sussex Stakes Giant's Causeway went on to make it five Group 1s on the spin with wins in the Juddmonte International and the Irish Champion Stakes, so Paddington still has a way to go. However, he is already a Classic winner in the Irish 2000 Guineas, unlike his predecessor, who was beaten there and also at Newmarket, and O'Brien made some flattering comparisons between the pair after the Eclipse.
Talking in the Sandown winner's enclosure after Paddington had beaten Emily Upjohn O'Brien said: “He's quicker than Giants Causeway. He's got an amazing constitution, like him, but he's much quicker. Giant always ran at the same weight, but this horse is getting heavier, so obviously he's physically doing very well. He's surprised us with every run and I don't know how far he could go.”
On a zoom call last week O'Brien added: “What Paddington has done has been incredible. I'm not sure we've ever had a horse that has made that much improvement – physically, mentally, and confidence-wise. And he looks so natural.”
O'Brien has always been a strong supporter of the Qatar Sussex Stakes, which is one of 35 races in the QIPCO British Champions Series and said: “It's a very prestigious race and it's stood the test of time for horses going to stud. It's the first chance for 3-year-olds to meet the older milers, which makes it even more interesting.”
Giant's Causeway's success has been followed by further wins for the stable with Rock Of Gibraltar, Henrythenavigator, Rip Van Winkle and The Gurkha, but the last of them was seven years ago. O'Brien is due another win, and Paddington very much looks the part.
Modern Games and Nostrum were not declared and so Paddington's chief rival is the Cheveley Park Stud's three-time Group 1 winner Inspiral.
The John and Thady Gosden-trained 4-year-old had Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes runner-up Chindit behind in sixth when beaten a neck by outsider Triple Time in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, when making a belated reappearance after taking time to come to hand again. She then sidestepped the Qatar Falmouth Stakes, in which she suffered a shock defeat last year, in order to wait for this.
John Gosden knows all about Paddington, having run him close with Emily Upjohn at Sandown, and he is looking forward to the race. He said: “Inspiral is in great form. She did a nice bit of work for Frankie early last week and breezed on Saturday.
“It's an interesting race to say the least. We know Paddington, and we saw what he did at Royal Ascot and then again at Sandown, but it's an exciting race and it's nice to be there.
“It will be Inspiral's first time at Goodwood, and anyone who has walked the track will know it's an eccentric racecourse, but there's no reason to think she won't handle it. She handles some give in the ground too. Her mother Starscope was very much at home on it, and her father Frankel tolerated it well.”
Recent Summer Mile runner-up Aldaary was the subject of an ante-post plunge over the weekend, punters latching on to the prospect of more wet weather arriving for the Shadwell Stud's mudlover before the race. The reduced field on ground that is coming right for him puts the five-year-old right in the picture, and the more rain the better.
Trainer William Haggas said: “We left Aldaary in the Sussex in the hope that we get the sort of ground we had when Here Comes When won in 2017. He's probably not good enough to win, but he likes the soft, so who knows. It wasn't as soft as ideal at Ascot last time and it was a funny race. He was still a bit rusty there, but he's better now.”
David Egan partners Charyn for Roger Varian and said: “Charyn ran a great race at Royal Ascot when third behind Paddington but didn't feel his usual self when he was down the field at Deauville next time.
“He hasn't missed a beat, running in the Greenham, in both 2000 Guineas, at Royal Ascot and then Deauville, but he carries a lot of condition and he's looking a million dollars. He's a lovely horse with a great attitude and stepping back up to a mile will definitely be a positive.”
The Jerome Reynier-trained Group 3 winner Facteur Cheval, who was third to Anmaat in a blanket finish to the Prix d'Ispahan at Longchamp and carries the colours of leading international operators Team Valor, would be a rare French-trained winner. The last was Solow in 2015, and he was the first since Bigstone in 1993.
The post ‘He’s Surprised Us With Every Run’: O’Brien-Trained Paddington Seeks Third Straight Group 1 In Wednesday’s Sussex appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
