Rosallion scoring the St. James’s Palace Stakes (Eclipe Sportswire)
1-Mile Race Offers Automatic Berth into FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar
Breeders’ Cup Release
CHICHESTER, U.K ─ Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum’s Rosallion (IRE) headlines a quality field of six runners for the July 31 Qatar Sussex Stakes (G1) at Goodwood Racecourse. The winner will gain a guaranteed start in the $2 million FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) via the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In.
The Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series is an international series of 82 stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, scheduled to be held Nov. 1-2 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, California.
Trained by Richard Hannon, Rosallion is currently the highest-rated miler in Europe, having produced exhilarating performances to land the May 25 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas (G1) at The Curragh and the June 18 St. James’s Palace Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot after finishing second behind Notable Speech (GB) in the May 4 QIPCO 2000 Guineas (G1) at Newmarket.
Hannon said: “Rosallion is probably everything you could ever dream of. My dad (Richard Hannon Sr.) might disagree, but I think he is the best miler we have had and certainly the best since Canford Cliffs (IRE). He has won three Group 1s, including one as a 2-year-old, and has gotten better with every run. He has been a different horse since the 2000 Guineas and he has turned from a boy to a man as the season has progressed.”
Hannon reports the odds-on favorite for the Qatar Sussex Stakes to be thriving. He said: “He’s in great nick and couldn’t look any better. It looks as if he’s settling better in his work now and I’m very pleased with the way he’s moving. I’m very happy with him and he’ll be hard to beat.”
The son of Blue Point (IRE) will be partnered by regular jockey Sean Levey.
Godolphin’s 3-year-old Notable Speech beat Rosallion to win the 2000 Guineas in May before an unexplained seventh-place finish in the St. James’s Palace Stakes (G1), and bids to return the winner’s enclosure on Wednesday.
Trainer Charlie Appleby said: “We are very much looking forward to it, and if Notable Speech goes there in the same form as in the Guineas it will be good fun. Nothing came out in the wash after Ascot. The vets did all of the checks and found nothing, but it was one of those strange races to watch.”
Appleby is hopeful Notable Speech can return to his best at Goodwood. He said: “We gave him a bit of a break and from there onwards he’s not missed a beat. He looks a million dollars, and his work has been very good at home again. He’s showing all of the right signs. We know he’s got an electric turn of foot, and he’s been showing it over the last few weeks.”
Henry Longfellow (IRE), who finished second to Rosallion in the St. James’s Palace Stakes for Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Mrs. John Magnier, has also been declared. Paddington (GB) was successful for the same connections in 2023.
The Qatar Sussex Stakes represents the first Group 1 contest at 1-mile between 3-year-olds and older horses in England this year. The older generation has three runners, headed by the sole international runner, Facteur Cheval (IRE), trained by Jerome Reynier in France for Team Valor International LLC and Gary Barber. Facteur Cheval finished second to Paddington in last year’s Qatar Sussex Stakes and subsequently won the Dubai Turf (G1) at Meydan in March before finishing sixth in the June 18 Queen Anne Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot. The William Haggas-trained Maljoom (IRE), third in the Queen Anne, has also been entered.
Ralph Beckett trainee Sonny Liston (IRE), second in the June 19 Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot but sixth last out in the July 13 Anne Cowley Memorial Summer Mile Stakes (G2), completes the field.
The current going at Goodwood is good to soft with the forecast looking dry ahead of Wednesday’s race.
As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders’ Cup will pay the entry fees for the winner of the Qatar Sussex Stakes to start in the $2 million FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1). Breeders’ Cup will also provide a travel allowance 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 pre-entry deadline of Oct. 21 to receive the rewards.
