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Poetic Flare, Order Of Australia Chasing Breeders’ Cup Berth In Wednesday’s Sussex Stakes

Mrs. J.S. Bolger's 3-year-old Poetic Flare (IRE), a two-time Group 1 winner, and Order of Australia (IRE), the defending US$2 million FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) champion, lead Wednesday's Qatar Sussex Stakes (G1) at Goodwood Racecourse. The Qatar Sussex Stakes winner will earn an automatic starting position and fees paid into this year's US$2 million FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile presented by PDJF (G1) through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge Series is an international series of 84 stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, which will be held at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, California on Nov. 5-6.

As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees for the Qatar Sussex Stakes winner to start in the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile, which will be run at a mile on the Del Mar turf course. Breeders' Cup will also provide a travel allowance of US$40,000 for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships. The Challenge winner must be nominated to the Breeders' Cup program by the Championships' pre-entry deadline of Oct. 25 to receive the rewards.

The Qatar Sussex Stakes will be televised live on TVG with an approximate post time of 10:35 a.m. ET.

Challenging older runners for the first time in the Qatar Sussex Stakes, Poetic Flare, trained by Jim Bolger, has won five races in eight starts, including three this year. A son of Dawn Approach (IRE) out of the Rock of Gibraltar (IRE) mare Maria Lee (IRE), Poetic Flare captured the QIPCO 2000 Guineas at 1 mile on May 1 at Newmarket, defeating Master of The Seas (IRE) by a short head at 16-1. That win was followed by a sixth-place finish as the 5-2 favorite in the Emirates Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas) (G1) at ParisLongchamp on May 16. Just six days later, Poetic Flare was entered in the Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas (G1) at The Curragh, where he finished second by a short head to stablemate Mac Swiney (IRE). However, Poetic Flare returned to his winning ways with his most impressive performance to date, taking the 1-mile St James's Palace Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot on June 15 by 4 1/4-lengths.

“Poetic Flare has been very well since the St James's Palace Stakes,” said Jim Bolger to Goodwood.com. “We're very happy with his work and he seems to be improving further. I was expecting and hoping for him to win at Ascot but possibly not as spectacularly as he did.”

Trainer Aidan O'Brien, who has won the Qatar Sussex Stakes five times, has entered Order of Australia and Lope Y Fernandez (IRE), the first and third-place finishers, respectively, in last year's FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile at Keeneland. Owned by Derrick Smith, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Anne Marie O'Brien, the 4-year-old Order of Australia came off the also-eligible list to win by a neck at 73-1 over stablemate Circus Maximus (IRE). Order of Australia made his first start of 2021 in the “Win and You're In” Queen Anne Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot, finishing eighth. He rebounded in his next start, though, scoring a 1 1/4-length triumph in the 7-furlong Romanised Minstrel Stakes (G2) at The Curragh on July 18.

The 4-year-old Lope Y Fernandez, owned by Derrick Smith, Mrs. John Magnier and Michael Tabor, finished second to Palace Pier (GB) in the Queen Anne Stakes by 1 ½ lengths in his third start this year. A son of Lope de Vega (IRE), Lope Y Fernandez began 2021 with a 5 ½-length victory in the listed 1-mile Heritage Stakes at Leopardstown on April 14. He started next in the 1-mile Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes (G1) at Newbury on May 15, but was not a factor, finishing eighth as the 5-1 second choice.

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Three-year-old fillies Alcohol Free (IRE) and Snow Lantern (GB) were the first two finishers in the 1-mile Coronation Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot on June 18. The 1 ½-length victory in the Coronation was Alcohol Free's second Group 1 triumph. Owned by Jeff Smith and trained by Andrew Balding, the daughter of No Nay Never claimed her first Group 1 in last year's Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket. Alcohol Free began this year with a win in the Dubai Duty Free Stakes (G3) at Newbury on April 18. In her first start against older fillies and mares, Alcohol Free finished third to Snow Lantern in the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes (G1) at Newmarket on July 9.

Rockcliffe Stud's Snow Lantern, trained by Richard Hannon, has finished in the money in her four starts this year. A gray daughter of Frankel (GB), Snow Lantern broke her maiden in the 1-mile Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships at Newbury on April 18. She finished third in the listed Oaks Farm Stables Fillies' Stakes at York on May 14 prior to her second-place effort in the Coronation. Sent off at 6-1 in the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes, Snow Lantern moved off the rail in the final two furlongs and surged to the front to catch QIPCO 1000 Guineas (G1) winner Mother Earth (IRE) by a half-length.

Juddmonte's 4-year-old Kentucky homebred Tilsit, trained by Charlie Hills, comes into the race off a win in the 1-mile Betfred Summer Mile Stakes (G2) at Ascot on July 10. That victory came after a second-place finish in the 1 1/8-mile Prix d'Ispahan (G1) at ParisLongchamp on May 30. A son of First Defence, Tilsit has a win over the Goodwood course, taking last year's 1-mile Bonhams Thoroughbred Stakes (G3).

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Goodwood: Lady Bowthorpe Poised To End 27-Year ‘Barren’ Spell For Trainer William Jarvis

The St James's Palace at Royal Ascot 1994. Grand Lodge under a 34-year-old Mick Kinane gave William Jarvis a second Group 1 in the space of nine months. Twenty-seven years on and Jarvis might just have the horse to end what he labels a “barren spell”.

“I've been training a long time and we've been very lucky to have had some very decent horses through our hands, but it's been a bit of a barren spell probably since Gravitation won the Lillie Langtry Stakes at Goodwood in 2008. To have a filly as high class as Lady Bowthorpe is great for all of us,” said Jarvis.

Lady Bowthorpe has run a series of brilliant races in defeat since winning the Group 2 Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket in May and Jarvis believes she's a different horse this season.

“She's grown up as a five-year-old mare and she's much more amenable now. As a three and four-year-old, we thought she was very much a soft ground filly but her run in both the Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket and more recently in the Falmouth Stakes were on good-to-firm ground and I think she's pretty adaptable.”

The daughter of Nathaniel was flying late on having met trouble in running in the Falmouth Stakes and she has come out of that run in flying form.

“She was very tired when she came out of the Lockinge Stakes, but we had a very good preparation between Ascot and Newmarket, and she's really been pleasing me since the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes.”

“In the Falmouth Stakes, I didn't think she got the rub of the green, but Snow Lantern is a very good filly. I felt at the time that we were the best horse in the race.”

The highest rated miler in the world, Palace Pier, was on Tuesday ruled out of the Qatar Sussex Stakes which has given Jarvis and Lady Bowthorpe's owner Emma Banks reasons to ponder which Group 1 contest they should head to at Goodwood next week.

“Our initial thoughts after the Falmouth were to head to the Qatar Nassau Stakes, to keep her against her own sex and step her up to 10 furlongs. I'm very confident that she'll stay the extra two furlongs. With Palace Pier ruled out, we'll certainly have a look at the opposition in the Qatar Sussex Stakes but I'm certainly leaning towards the Nassau.”

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‘Improving’ Poetic Flare Can Give Bolger A First Sussex Victory

Jim Bolger has been involved in some iconic Goodwood finishes over the years including Alexander Goldrun's battle with Ouija Board in the 2006 Nassau Stakes and Dawn Approach's duel with Toronado in the 2013 Sussex Stakes. Dawn Approach's son, Poetic Flare, will arrive at Goodwood next week hoping to go one better than his sire and provide the indomitable Jim Bolger with a first success in the Group 1 Qatar Sussex Stakes on July 28 at Goodwood.

The Sussex is a “Win And You're In” race for the Breeders' Cup Mile this fall at Del Mar.

The County Carlow trainer believes his QIPCO 2000 Guineas hero, who confirmed himself as the leading 3-year-old miler in Europe when demolishing a high-quality field in the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, has improved since Ascot.

“Poetic Flare has been very well since the St James's Palace Stakes. We're very happy with his work and he seems to be improving further. I was expecting and hoping for him to win at Ascot but possibly not as spectacularly as he did.”

Bolger has always held the colt in the highest regard and is thrilled that he has showed his quality this season.

“I felt from the Spring of 2020 that he would be our best 2-year-old and as things transpired, he could only partially prove that. I did view him all along as my Guineas horse so it was very pleasing that he could prove that this year.”

Kevin Manning has partnered Poetic Flare in all his starts to date and will once again be riding the horse who Bolger describes as the apple of Manning's eye.

“Kevin Manning loves him! For him, Poetic Flare can do no wrong. He's a very straightforward horse to ride as you can put him anywhere in the race and he always delivers.”

Poetic Flare's two Group 1 victories have come on good-to-firm ground and Bolger believes he is an even better horse on a sound surface.

“He handles soft ground but he's better on good ground. He is very well balanced, so I don't think Goodwood holds any problems for him.”

Poetic Flare has inherited many of Dawn Approach's attributes, but Bolger is hopeful that he can differ from him by going one better in next Wednesday's £1 million Qatar-sponsored contest, which is part of the QIPCO British Champions Series.

“He's a heavyweight in every regard and is over 500kg. He's a very easy horse to manage as he knows his job and he thrives on racing. He has a great appetite for eating and for working, he's just like his sire Dawn Approach in every way.”

“He has one more bit of work to get through and will then arrive at Goodwood on Monday. It's a very special race and a race I've not won before.”

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Mohaather Retired From Racing

Mohaather (GB) (Showcasing {GB}-Roodeye {GB}, by Inchinor {GB}), a group winner at two, three and four who earned his first Group 1 victory last out in the Sussex S., has been retired to stud due to bone bruising in his near hind fetlock joint.

“Towards the end of last week it was noticed that Mohaather was not moving as well as he had been immediately after the Sussex S.,” said Angus Gold, racing manager to owner Sheikh Hamdan. “Precautionary x-rays were taken over the weekend which have revealed significant bone bruising in his near hind fetlock joint. Unfortunately this will put paid to the rest of his campaign, and as a result Sheikh Hamdan has taken the decision to retire the colt to stud.

“Mohaather won group races as a 2-, 3- and 4-year-old and reserved his best effort for his last outing, where he beat the winners of this year’s English and Irish 2000 Guineas, together with dual Group 1 Royal Ascot winner Circus Maximus, quickening from an impossible position inside the last two furlongs in the manner of a top-class miler. While it is sad that he will not get the chance to take on the best of the milers in the Queen Elizabeth II at Ascot and the Breeders’ Cup at the end of this year, he retires at the top of his game, and on behalf of HH Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum I would like to thank Marcus Tregoning and his team for the outstanding job they did with him.”

Bred by Gaie Johnson Houghton, Mohaather was bought by Shadwell for 110,000gns during Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in 2017. Sent to Marcus Tregoning, he was spotted three times at two, winning twice including the G3 Horris Hill S. He showed promise on debut at three with a victory in the G3 Greenham S., but was not seen again until running fifth in the Queen Elizabeth II S. on Champions Day. Seventh behind Circus Maximus (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G1 Queen Anne S. at Royal Ascot first up this year, he then took the G2 Summer Mile by 3 3/4 lengths prior to the Sussex.

Mohaather is a full-brother to Prize Exhibit (GB), winner of four graded stakes in the U.S., and is a half to the dam of Johnson Houghton’s G1 Queen Anne S. winner Accidental Agent (GB) (Delegator {GB}).

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