Sussex Stakes Preview: Glorious Goodwood won’t be quite so glorious this year, as the English summer dumped an inch or three of rain over what is arguably the most beautiful racecourse in the world, which will make it heavy going for all at least at the start of the five-day festival.
Goodwood is also one of the most unorthodox tracks in the world, being chiselled into the side of a hill with barely a flat spot to be found. There is always trouble in-running at Goodwood, always a hard-luck story, and in the mud, it will only be more so. This is not a week to empty the wallet, but one in which to be wary and wise.
The main event of the week is Wednesday’s £1,000,000 Group 1 Sussex Stakes over a mile, for three-year-olds and up. The odds-on favorite is the hard-case Poetic Flare (5-6), who ran in four Group 1s in six weeks during the spring, winning the 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes and beaten a whisker in the Irish 2,000 Guineas.
He’s the best horse in the race and his odds reflect that, but they don’t reflect the track/going factors in play. Something is likely to hit the board at a big price; which one? Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Order Of Australia (10-1) and his stablemate Lope Y Fernandez (10-1) won’t like the ground at all, and neither will Guineas fifth Chindit (28-1); Alcohol Free (7-1) won’t mind it and Falmouth Stakes winner Snow Lantern (6-1) will be fine, but they take on males for the first time and need to step up.
Tilsit (12-1) has precious winning form over course and distance and is proven on the ground with a little ease. His effort when runner-up in a Group 1 at Longchamp in May has since been franked by the winner Skalleti, and although this is the hardest task Tilsit has been set thus far, he has few miles on the clock for a four-year-old and may still be open to improvement. At current Hrose Racing odds he rates the better option each way, ahead of Snow Lantern, for those seeking to avoid the obvious.
With this Sussex Stakes Preview; now you will have a clear choice what are you willing to risk for this Wind and You’re In race. Make your bet!
Sussex Stakes Odds
| Horse | Jockey | Horse Racing Odds courtesy of Jazzsports |
| POETIC FLARE | Kevin Manning | +110 |
| ALCOHOL FREE | Oisin Murphy | +550 |
| SNOW LANTERN | Jamie Spencer | +550 |
| ORDER OF AUSTRALIA | Ryan Moore | +850 |
| LOPE Y FERNANDEZ | Frankie Dettori | +1100 |
| TILSIT | Kieran Shoemark | +1200 |
| CENTURY DREAM | James Doyle | +1800 |
| CHINDIT | Pat Dobbs | +3300 |
| DUHAIL | Jim Crowley | +3300 |
| SPACE TRAVELLER | Daniel Tudhope | +8000 |
The following day, the puzzle of the £600,000 Group 1 Nassau Stakes, for fillies and mares over a mile and a quarter, seems a little easier to solve. The market is led by Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Audarya (7-4), who exceeded even that level of form when chasing home Love in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot on her seasonal reappearance.
Audarya will be fitter for that, has top-class form in the mud to her name – third to the brilliant Tarnawa at Longchamp – and the trip is perfect. Makes it sound easy, doesn’t it? Prix de Diane winner Joan Of Arc (5-2) and stablemate Empress Josephine (11-1) are closely matched on Group 1 form in the mud and are comfortably the pick of the younger generation, with Empress Josephine particularly favored by the forecast going. The admirable Lady Bowthorpe (11-4) has the class to make her presence felt but is going a furlong further than ever before and the ground won’t help her get home.
Audarya is the clear choice, but Empress Josephine is tempting for those who don’t mind a little more risk for their reward.
Nassau Stakes Odds
| Horse | Jockey | Horse Racing Odds courtesy of Jazzsports |
| AUDARYA | William Buick | +175 |
| JOAN OF ARC | Ryan Moore | +250 |
| LADY BOWTHORNE | Kieran Shoemaker | +275 |
| EMPRESS JOSEPHINE | Frankie Dettori | +1000 |
| ZEYAADAH | Jim Crowley | +1100 |
| TECHNIQUE | Tom Marquand | +3300 |
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