Mohaather produces devastating finish to win dramatic Sussex Stakes
The grandstands remain empty and the race itself was run in near-silence, but the reception for Mohaather’s success in the Group One Sussex Stakes here on Wednesday, from the handful of people fortunate enough to see it, was as warm and genuine as any since racing resumed behind closed doors two months ago. In part, that was thanks to Jim Crowley’s dramatic escape from a dead end a furlong out and the brilliant acceleration by Mohaather that got him out of trouble, but it also reflected the general delight that Marcus Tregoning, his trainer, had finally made it back to the winners’ enclosure after a Group One race.
Tregoning had been reminded many times in the run-up to the race that he had not had a winner at the highest level since Sir Percy’s narrow victory in the 2006 Derby. Aidan O’Brien, who saddled Dylan Thomas to finish third in that race, has had more than 220 Group One winners in the 14 years since.
But he missed out on yet another here thanks to an astonishing burst of finishing speed from Mohaather, moments after Crowley had been forced to drop down to first gear to manoeuvre his mount back and around the field, and into a position to strike. He conceded most of his momentum at a vital stage, and allowed Siskin, the Irish 2,000 Guineas winner, to get first run at O’Brien’s Circus Maximus, who had enjoyed an unchallenged lead from the start.
Siskin has a potent turn of foot, but he looked statuesque as Crowley unleashed Mohaather down his outside and then blew past Circus Maximus a second later. His winning margin was three-quarters of a length, but with a clear run at the right moment, Mohaather would have put daylight between himself and the best field assembled for a European Group One since lockdown.
For both horse and trainer, it was an overdue success. Mohaather was a strong fancy for last year’s 2,000 Guineas after an emphatic win in the Greenham Stakes but he was diagnosed with a hairline fracture shortly afterwards and did not race again until October.
His return to action in the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot was a hard luck story too, with Crowley repeatedly finding trouble in running on the way to a seventh-place finish behind Circus Maximus.
“Marcus took it remarkably well,” Crowley said here on Wednesday, “but I was gutted and it was eating away at me for a few days afterwards. Anybody who knows Marcus, he’s a wonderful guy and it’s nice to be able to repay him. He’s a great trainer and it’s nice to show people again that given the right ammunition, he’s more than capable. He’s done an amazing job with this horse.”
Tregoning has many memories of this track from his 14 years as an assistant to Dick Hern and for him, a win in Glorious Goodwood’s feature event was particularly sweet.
“There was never a day wasted, he was a brilliant teacher,” Tregoning said. “He couldn’t stand coming to this big meeting and not having a proper winner here, if he didn’t it was a very quiet journey home. That’s where it comes from.”
“I’ve always said that if you’ve done it once, you can do it again. But it’s about having the right people behind you, to get horses like this in the first place. It’s been hard for my wife, I can tell you. I might be in a better mood now. Hopefully we might get a few more horses now and I can be visiting here a bit more often, and not just leaving it all to John Gosden.”
Mohaather’s tactical speed would be a potent weapon on a tight American track and he is 5-1 (from 10-1) with Betfair to win the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland in November.
Today’s racing: Fancy Blue was Donnacha Ox’Brien’s first runner in France when she took the Prix de Diane (French Oaks) at Chantilly earlier this month, and the 21-year-old trainer will aim to repeat the trick today when the same filly is his first runner in Britain in the Nassau Stakes (3.15pm). Last year’s Nassau winner Deirdre as potentially the biggest danger to Fancy Blue. She has not won since but would have gone close in last year’s Irish Champion Stakes with a clear run, and ran a good prep for this behind Ghaiyyath in the Eclipse on her reappearance. This track, trip and quickening ground suit her ideally.