Qatar Sussex Stakes (Group 1)

THINGS didn’t go to plan for champion juvenile Too Darn Hot (John Gosden/Frankie Dettori) earlier this season, but the exciting son of Dubawi has got right back on track, adding this feature to his impressive Group 1 Prix Jean Prat success last month.

Dettori had to wait for an opportunity to pounce having settled his mount on the rail behind the front-running Phoenix Of Spain and Circus Maximus, but as Zabeel Prince wandered, he got the space he needed and was soon on terms with the St James’s Palace winner, as Phoenix Maximus began to weaken.

For a moment, the prospect of another great battle hung in the air, but Too Darn Hot (1/1) produced too much toe for the runner-up, and the result was in no doubt at the distance.

In the end the winner prevailed by a comfortable half-length, with I Can Fly running on well for third, a further length and a quarter away.

With just over five lengths separating first and last, this can hardly be viewed as a vintage running of the Sussex, although it’s encouraging to see the classic generation providing the one-two after Saturday’s King George whitewash by the older brigade, and the front pair should cement their status as the season progresses, although they may be heading in different directions tripwise.

“His best trip is probably seven furlongs,” confirmed John Gosden after the race. “I’ve put him in sprints, and wouldn’t be afraid of running him in the Sprint on Champions Day at Ascot, but a nice flat mile suits. The Curragh mile was too stiff after we ran him back too soon after the Dante Stakes, and it was the same in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, where the mile climbs a long way.

“It caught him out. His dam stayed a mile and a half, but he was champion two-year-old, and he’s all speed.

“He missed the Greenham and the Guineas through no fault of his own after throwing a splint, but then the trainer and the manager panicked and ran him in the Dante, which was the wrong thing to do, as he doesn’t stay, and then we panicked again and ran him nine days later in Ireland – again, an incredibly stupid move, then we rushed on to Ascot.

“The horse has shown his class, both here and in the Prix Jean Prat over seven, and he’s proven that he can overcome both his trainer and his owner. I find some consolation that Aidan ran Circus Maximus in the Derby, and it’s nice to know he can make right old boo-boos as well!”

O’Brien was happy with Circus Maximus, for all he couldn’t confirm Ascot form, and said: “We were delighted with the run today. We know that he gets a mile and a quarter well, so we have that option, to go up in trip, or we can stay where we are. The next one to come is York, and we need to decide whether we go up to a mile and a quarter there.

“There are a lot of things open to him because he is a relaxed horse. You wouldn’t believe how relaxed at home he is, he takes everything in his stride.”

As for I Can Fly, the master of Ballydoyle was looking forward to an autumn campaign: “She has run a stormer, and when the ground gets easier it will help her.

“A mile on easy ground, with a strong pace is what she loves. She is more of an autumn horse.”