Sussex Job Done For Solow

SO-SO

Sent off the 2-5 favorite for Wednesday’s G1 Qatar Sussex S. at Goodwood, the Wertheimers’ Solow (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}) went about his business in his own workmanlike but highly profitable way to maintain his formidable winning sequence under a smooth ride from Maxime Guyon. Immediately into a comfortable rhythm tracking the early pace-setter Arod (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) in second, the dappled grey who was last seen capturing the G1 Queen Anne S. at Royal Ascot June 16 took until passing the quarter pole to gain a slight edge over that strong-traveling front-runner. Gradually eking it out to a half length at the line, he had done enough to gain another straightforward foreign coup for his enterprising connections. “He is unbelievable and is easy to ride–he doesn’t pull and after he uses his turn of foot, he stops a little bit which is why he doesn’t look to win easily,” his rider said. “We didn’t go very fast, but he is very relaxed and he has a very good turn of foot. He is crazy good–I think he is the best horse I have ridden.”

Wednesday, Goodwood, Britain

QATAR SUSSEX S. (SUPPORTED BY QATAR PETROLEUM)-G1, £1,000,000, GOO, 7-29, 3yo/up, 8fT, 1:39.18, gd.

1–SOLOW (GB), 134, g, 5, by Singspiel (Ire)

1st Dam: High Maintenance (Fr) (GSP-Fr, $115,823), by Highest Honor (Fr)

2nd Dam: Fabulous Hostess, by Fabulous Dancer

3rd Dam: Young Hostess (Fr), by Arctic Tern

O/B-Wertheimer & Frere (GB); T-Freddy Head; J-Maxime Guyon. £560,200. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Fr & UAE, 16-11-2-1, $5,297,661. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.

2–Arod (Ire), 134, c, 4, Teofilo (Ire)–My Personal Space, by Rahy. (€170,000 Ylg ‘12 GOFORB). O-Qatar Racing Ltd; B-Kabansk Ltd & Rathbarry Stud (IRE); T-Peter Chapple-Hyam. £213,300.

3–Gabrial (Ire), 134, g, 6, Dark Angel (Ire)–Guajira (Fr), by Mtoto (GB). (25,000gns Wlg ‘09 TATFOA; £48,300 Ylg ‘10 DONPRE). O-Dr Marwan Koukash; B-B Kennedy (IRE); T-Richard Fahey. £106,800.

Margins: HF, 2 1/4, 1. Odds: 0.40, 6.00, 50.00.

Also Ran: Here Comes When (Ire), Cougar Mountain (Ire), Night of Thunder (Ire), Belardo (Ire), Bossy Guest (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result, the brisnet.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

France has a habit of churning out racehorses who gain mass international appeal and Solow is now taking up the baton from the likes of his stable’s former luminary Goldikova (Ire) (Anabaa) and still current arch-rival Cirrus des Aigles (Fr) (Even Top {Ire}) as he continues his overseas plunder. Prior to this, the homebred had won 11 of his last 12 outings as Freddy Head tightened his trip incrementally from a mile and a half to a mile, with his sole reversal in that time coming when sixth in the G2 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier over 15 1/2 furlongs at Longchamp last May. Even that effort was commendable, as he was probably given too much to do in one of his country’s typically slowly run staying affairs and he is just one of those rarities that can carry speed over a variety of trips. Without the 3-year-old benchmark Gleneagles (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) to aim at and provide an adequate marker of his still untapped capabilities, Solow hardly had a tougher task here than he had endured in either the Mar 28 G1 Dubai Turf at Meydan, the G1 Prix d’Ispahan at Longchamp May 24 and the Queen Anne. Only Qatar Racing’s upwardly mobile Arod had the gall to take him on from the outset, but all that G3 Diomed S. and G2 Summer Mile winner achieved was to aid the favorite’s cause by setting an ideal target just ahead. As the pressure was increased by Andrea Atzeni on the leader, the Wertheimer homebred slowly ramped it up and by the time he reached the line he was giving out his familiar swagger with Guyon resting up. Freddy Head is looking to bring the increasingly popular grey back to the UK for his seasonal finale. “I knew he was very good and we had a first-class chance, but a race is a race and it’s never run until it’s run,” he commented. “It’s amazing that he is able to win at all different types of racecourses, but he is very well-balanced and a brilliant horse. I love winning in England and at Goodwood, so the plan is now to come back to Ascot’s [Oct. 17] G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. and the softer the ground the better there. I don’t think he’ll run before that, but afterwards he will have a well-deserved vacation.” Arod’s trainer Peter Chapple-Hyam was left looking abroad for his 4-year-old with a search for lively conditions uppermost in his mind. “He just needs the ground faster. Andrea said it just blunted his speed,” he commented. “As far the rest of the season, he’s not guaranteed to get his ground on Champions Day in the QEII and as the Breeders’ Cup is at Keeneland this year, that might be a bit tight for him, as he has a big stride. The Shadwell Mile in Canada could be an option. The Cox Plate could be the one, though. Sheikh Fahad has always wanted to win it and so have I, ever since I worked in Australia. As the Jacques le Marois is only in two weeks, that will probably come too soon, but he could go for the [Sept. 13] G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp if the ground is right.”