Solow Wins Qatar Sussex Stakes

Hampshire, England, July 29 (QNA) - Unbeaten five-year-old French horse Solow notched his eighth consecutive win Wednesday, beating second-placed Arod by half a length, to bag the Pounds 1 Million Qatar Sussex Stakes, the feature race of the day at the Qatar Goodwood Festival. Solow, jockey Maxime Guyon in saddle, was a worthy winner despite the narrow winning margin, forging past front-runner Arod in the final half-furlong and winning the 39-horse race for 3-year-old and above Class I, with what looked at least a little left in hand. The Freddy Head-trained five-year-old has now won eight consecutive races, four those Group 1s, including the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot last month. Although a convincing winner, Solow did not have to face Gleneagles, whose absence from the field turned the anticipated 'Duel on the Downs' to what appeared almost a one-horse race and the heavily-supported winner was sent off as a 2-5 favourite. Gleneagles, the Aidan O'Brien-trained dual Guineas winner, was withdrawn due to the ground, which although described as good on Wednesday was still regarded as too soft for the fast ground-favouring horse. The track at Goodwood continued to dry out on Wednesday with the official description changed to good - from good to soft, good in places. Having ended the weekend with soft going, which led to a number of high-profile absentees most notably Gleneagles in today's Pounds 1 million Qatar Sussex Stakes, conditions have improved significantly. Commenting on the nature of the race course Clerk Seamus Buckley said, "The course rode extremely well, better than a lot of people were expecting after two inches of rain in four days. I'm calling it (racecourse) good, which will be a surprise to everyone but thats what it is," he said. "The ground takes it so well, once the rain goes through the topsoil and into the choke you are away." In other races today, Tom Dascombe-trained two-year-old Kachy, Richard Kingscote in saddle, was too quick for his Molecombe Stakes rivals and kept his unbeaten record, winning the Group 3 sprint holding off the evens favourite King Of Rooks by three quarters of a length. Al Shaqab Racing-owned and trained by Richard Hannon, King Of Rooks was forced out wide from stall one, with jockey Frankie Dettori niggling him along at halfway, but came with a daunting run inside the final furlong yet could not get past the worthy winner, while the Godolphin-owned Rouleau was a further two lengths back in third. Three-year-old Highland Reel (Joe O'Brien up) edge out Scottish (Jim Crowley up) by a length and a half, after an thrilling head-to-head sprint in the final leg of the mile and a half race for Gordon Stakes (Group 3). (QNA)