Favourites falter in Sussex Stakes and Goodwood Cup
Odds-on favourite Ribchester was stunned by 20-1 shot HERE COMES WHEN in a soggy running of the Sussex Stakes at "Glorious Goodwood" in England on Wednesday.
Ribchester was installed as 4-7 favourite as he looked for a third straight win after his arch rival Churchill was pulled out because of the heavy rain.
With the ground very soft at Goodwood, it was Here Comes When, under Jim Crowley, who powered through the rain to overtake a faltering Ribchester in the final 400m of the Group 1 1,600m race.
The Richard Fahey-trained Ribchester ran a strange race, leading from the front, before rallying in the final 100m to finish second after looking to have run out of gas.
"I wasn't comfortable from the three (furlong marker/600m marker) to the two," said Ribchester's jockey William Buick.
"He didn't find as much as I thought he would and that's usually a very strong part of his race, then he stayed on strongly again towards the end when the others got tired in front.
"I was surprised they got to me. Then, when they crossed in front of me, it was because I wasn't going well enough. He's a gutsy horse, but they are terrible conditions out there. It's heavy ground - it's not nice."
Here Comes When held on to win by a neck to give trainer Andrew Balding his first top-flight winner since 2014, with Lightning Spear (8-1) finishing third, having looked a real threat close to home.
In Tuesday's Goodwood Cup, STRADIVARIUS overhauled Big Orange to deny the favourite a record third consecutive triumph in the race.
The performance continued an excellent few days for trainer John Gosden, who also saw Enable power to a stunning victory in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday, and was the third of four wins for jockey Andrea Atzeni on the opening day of the "Glorious Goodwood" festival.
Under Frankie Dettori, Big Orange led from the front in trademark style in the 3,200m feature, but three-year-old Stradivarius, 6-1 second-favourite, snuck down the inside rail to win by one-and-three-quarter lengths.
"He's not the biggest of horses and he got knocked about a bit," said Gosden.
"Andrea didn't panic. He stayed that well and he's a lovely little horse."
Italian Atzeni had already scored aboard 7-4 favourite EXPERT EYE in the Vintage Stakes, and pulled off a stunning late move on 50-1 shot BRETON ROCK to claim the following Lennox Stakes.
He finished in style, too, on SHENANIGANS (15-2) in the final race, to make it a staggering four wins from five rides.
"I was speaking to Mr Gosden before the race and I said if I get the chance to challenge Big Orange, I wanted to keep away from him as he fights," he said.
"He's improving and picked up like a nice horse. He could be anything." - AFP
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
