Clarehaven training duo John and Thady Gosden offered no excuses for a sub-par run from their star miler Field Of Gold in the Group 1 Sussex stakes at Goodwood; race was won by 150/1 shot Qirat, who was supplemented into the race for £70,000
Wednesday 30 July 2025 17:42, UK
John and Thady Gosden made no excuses for Field Of Gold after he was well-beaten in a renewal of the Visit Qatar Sussex Stakes at Goodwood that few could have foreseen.
The Juddmonte-owned grey was the 1/3 favourite as he came into the race having won both Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes this season, so was bidding for a Group One hat-trick with a new rider in the saddle as William Buick replaced the suspended Colin Keane.
Juddmonte’s second-string, the Ralph Beckett-trained Qirat, was the mount of Richard Kingscote and employed as a pacemaker, albeit a useful one, as was Aidan O’Brien’s Serengeti, who looked set to lead stablemate Henri Matisse into the race.
Those two did indeed settle into the lead, but as the race developed it became apparent that the favourite could not close the gap and he finished an eventual fourth when three and three-quarter lengths behind 150-1 winner Qirat.
John Gosden said: “He’s done nothing wrong and actually the other pacemaker [Serengeti] got left [at the start], he comes round and finally they are going a pace. We are sitting a long way behind, that’s life and the pacemaker goes and wins it.
“If you let them have those fractions they will do it, he ran on but he didn’t seem to be balanced on the track, it’s a different type of track to what he has ever run on and he just got a little unbalanced coming out of the dip into the bend. I’m not making any excuses, you ignore the pacemaker and pay the price.
“He ran a huge race in the Guineas [when runner-up at Newmarket] and was flying at the finish, but he was not flying at the finish so there’s a very big difference.
He wasn’t at his best so we will have to see why. He is having a normal blow so we will have a good look.
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Source: Skysports
