RACES do not get much more gripping than last week’s Sussex Stakes at the Qatar Goodwood Festival, and an understanding of sectionals added to the appreciation of events. It was billed as a rematch between Galileo Gold and The Gurkha - the one-two from Royal Ascot’s St James’s Palace Stakes, in which the latter was the better horse on sectionals - but there was also the third that day and Irish 2000 Guineas winner, Awtaad, as well as several other smart-or-better rivals.

One question was “would Galileo Gold manage to run easy sectionals up with the pace, as at Ascot?” Another was “would The Gurkha allow him so much rope this time?”