THE Qatar Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, run on soft ground, was won surprisingly by 20/1 shot Here Comes When, ridden by Jim Crowley for Andrew Balding.

Having already won the Lockinge at Newbury and the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot, Richard Fahey's Ribchester was unsurprisingly a warm order to complete a Group 1 hat-trick in the Sussex, especially after Churchill's withdrawal.

The 8/13 favourite made much of the running, but William Buick was hard at work in the saddle with two furlongs to run and the Andrew Balding-trained Here Comes When battled his way to the front in the hands of Jim Crowley.

Just when it looked as though Ribchester was fading, he rallied to the cause, but while he was making ground again at the finish, Here Comes When held on by a neck. Lightning Spear was third.

Crowley said: "That was fantastic. Fair play to Andrew and Dr Hay (owner) for supplementing him and running him in the race. It was a brave shout and it's really paid off.

"The rain came and he's always been a very good horse on soft ground. Before the race I was ticking off the horses I didn't think would go on the ground and I thought he'd definitely be in the first three.

"He got a nice tow into the race and the weather has played to his strengths. It's heavy ground and he just loves it. It's nice for him to get his head in front in a race like that."

The dual 2000 Guineas hero Churchill had disappointed in the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, but was due to take on his elders for the first time. However, after checking on the ever-deteriorating conditions, O'Brien made the difficult decision to withdraw his three-year-old less than an hour before the off time.

He said: "It's extreme out there now. There are other races coming up for him, but I've no idea where he will go. It depends if the lads want to stay at a mile or step him up to a mile and a quarter.

"If he stays at a mile he will go to France (Prix Jacques le Marois, August 13th) – if he steps up to a mile and a quarter he will go for the Juddmonte (International, at York on August 23rd).

"We came here wanting to run and we're very disappointed that we're not running. The year is long and hopefully there'll be other chances. The ground didn't walk too bad when we walked it, but there was a lot of water on top of it and it was loose and sloppy. It's probably going to get near heavy as they must have had nearly an inch of rain."