Paddington navigates a bog in Sussex victory
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They might as well have handed out paddles Wednesday at Goodwood Racecourse in England, but that did not stop Paddington from winning his fourth Group 1 in a row. Racing over a rain-soaked course, Paddington brushed aside an early bid from the multiple Group 1-winning filly Inspiral and still had enough in his tank to hold clear a late run from French raider Facteur Cheval in the Sussex Stakes.
The victory came after Paddington had won the Irish 2000 Guineas and the St. James’s Palace Stakes, one-mile contests for 3-year-olds, and beaten older horses over 1 1/4 miles in the Eclipse Stakes. Paddington has won well over good ground and on Wednesday coped with a course so soft that it took the winner a shockingly slow 1:47.16 to navigate the mile.
Paddington and Ryan Moore took an early lead in the Sussex but were joined roughly three furlongs out by Inspiral, whose jockey, Frankie Dettori, took the stands side running rail, supposedly the best part of the course, away from Paddington. Inspiral either poked her head in front or just failed to do so, but her run at the leader took its toll well before the finish. With Inspiral fading, Facteur Cheval took up the chase, but Paddington had plenty left for him, too, and was going away at the finish, winning by 1 1/2 lengths. Facteur Cheval held second by more than five lengths over Charyn, Inspiral last in a field reduced to five by Chindit’s scratch. Paddington, who got seven pounds from his older male rivals and four from Inspiral, paid $2.50.
The Sussex is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series and Paddington earned automatic fees-paid entry into the Breeders’ Cup Mile and travel expenses to Santa Anita. It’s not impossible Paddington could wind up in that race, but with his horse’s distance versatility and ability to cope with a range of racing surfaces, options abound trainer Aidan O’ Brien. By Siyouni out of Modern Eagle, by Montjeu, Paddington was lightly regarded early in his career. Now, Paddington is being acclaimed as a star, both by his trainer and by Moore, who suggested after the Sussex that the colt was as good a horse as he’s ever ridden.
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