Open to horses aged three years and upwards, the Sussex Stakes is one of the most prestigious and valuable mile races in Europe. Staged during ‘Glorious Goodwood’, in late July or early August, it is, in fact, the first race of the season in which three-year-old milers can tackle their older counterparts at the highest, Group 1 level. As such, the Sussex Stakes has featured many an intriguing clash of the generations and, more than once, has been dubbed the ‘Duel on the Downs’; Goodwood Racecourse lies within the South Downs National Park in West Sussex.
The roll of honour for the Sussex Stakes reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of champion milers down the years and includes such notable names as Petite Etoile, Brigadier Gerard, Kris and, of course, Frankel. Indeed, the last named remains the only horse to win the race twice.
In 2011, the Sussex Stakes was billed as a bona fide ‘Duel on the Downs’ between the three-year-old Frankel who, at that stage of his career, was 7-7, having most recently won the St. James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, and the defending champion, the four-year-old Canford Cliffs. Frankel was, nonetheless, sent off at odds-on to maintain his unbeaten record and did so in style, readily quickening clear in the closing stages for an impressive, 5-length win.
Three, wide-margin Group 1 wins later, Frankel returned to Goodwood, as a four-year-old, to defend his title. Having frightened off much of the competition, he faced just three rivals, one of which was his pacemaker, Bullet Train, and all of whom were officially rated at least 18lb inferior. Unsurprisingly, Frankel was sent off at hugely prohibitive odds of 1/20 and turned the race into a procession, cruising into the lead at the two-furlong marker and drawing clear to win by 6 lengths, eased down.