Sussex Stakes Tips: Australia the Order of the day against Baaeed
Star miler Baaeed will be sent off at prohibitive odds for the Group 1 Sussex Stakes, as the unbeaten son of Sea The Stars attempts to maintain his unbeaten record on day two of Glorious Goodwood. Six rivals will take on the multiple Group winner in the Wednesday highlight, and our man Steve Chambers previews the feature event here...
This year's Sussex Stakes suffered a huge blow on Monday when 2000 Guineas hero Coroebus was ruled out through injury, so Baaeed's task appears to look a lot easier on paper and the bookmakers' odds suggest that it should be a stroll in the park for the William Haggas-trained four-year-old, who is a best-priced 1/5 to land this prize. A superstar three-year-old which saw him end the season with a Group 1 win in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on British Champions Day, Baaeed returned to the track with sumptuous victory in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury. Building on that effort at Royal Ascot, he was a facile winner of the Queen Anne Stakes to maintain his dominance in the Group 1 division, and he's set to light up the turf once again on Wednesday, and if he can replicate his two runs this season then he's going to be extremely tough to beat.
A magnificent cruising speed twinned with a blistering turn of foot, Baaeed has shown he can deliver the goods at Goodwood as he was a runaway six-and-a-half length winner of the Group 3 Glorious Stakes at the Glorious meeting 12 months ago, and since extending his record to eight wins out of eight, his name has been uttered in the same breath of the mighty Frankel, who went unbeaten through his glittering career.
Baaeed sets the standard here and it's extremely hard to see his bubble being burst here, as the opposition looks significantly inferior, and he should be able to stroll to victory in what should be another mile masterclass from the wondrous colt.
Andrew Balding's Alcohol Free was an excellent winner of this race 12 months ago, and the four-year-old daughter of No Nay Never will look to emulate the mighty Frankel by winning back-to-back renewals of this contest, and the filly is an 11/1 second favourite to claim victory. Having struggled at the start of the season, Balding's charge bounced back to form with a sensational win in the July Cup at Newmarket over six furlongs, and she will now look to sparkle back up in trip. Well beaten by Baaeed in the Lockinge earlier in the season, Alcohol Free maybe in decent form, but she may find that she's much better at sprint trips these days, and she may just find it tough to live with the relentless of Baaeed here, so she's one to avoid.
Aidan O'Brien's ORDER OF AUSTRALIA has shown his qualities down the years and is a former Breeders' Cup Mile winner, so he is a talented performer on his day, and the five-year-old roared back to form last time out when bounding to victory in the Group 2 Minstrel Stakes at the Curragh. A repeat of that effort should at least give Baaeed something to think about, and at 14/1 he could be the each-way play in the race. However, he's unlikely to have the class to live with the jolly as he was well beaten by him in the Queen Anne last month at Royal Ascot, and it's hard to see him reversing the form here.
With Coroebus out, Charlie Appleby has been forced to go with plan B and that is saddle Modern Games, who is a 22/1 chance, and the French 2000 Guineas winner has put up two decent efforts in France since at the highest level, so he has to be respected, but on a return to British shores he may just find it all a bit too tough.
Of the others, Richard Hannon's Chindit (33/1) won the Group 2 Summer Mile at Ascot last time out, but he's a performer that has often found it tough at the highest level, while last year's Vintage Stakes winner Angel Bleu was disappointing in the St James's Palace Stakes last time out, and he's entitled to a 50/1 chance, while the final contender is 40/1 outsider Bathrat Leon, who is another that should find this a bridge too far.
