Field of Gold won his 3-year-old debut April 16 as the most tepid of favorites in the Group 3 Craven Stakes. Three months later, the betting markets say it’s not a question of whether Field of Gold wins the Group 1 Sussex Stakes on Wednesday at Goodwood, but by how many lengths.
And Field of Gold occupies this lofty position despite finishing second in the 2000 Guineas, his main early-season goal following the Craven prep. Field of Gold, on the day, looked like the best horse in the Guineas but was given too much to do in too little time and was about to inhale victorious Ruling Court when he simply ran out of real estate.
Field of Gold took no prisoners three weeks later winning the Irish 2000 Guineas by nearly four lengths, and, despite facing much stronger opposition, he proved just as dominant winning the Group 1 St. James’s Palace last month at Royal Ascot by 3 1/2.
This will be Field of Gold’s first start in a race open to older horses, four of whom populate the seven-runner Sussex, contested over one mile on Goodwood’s quirky course. Three-year-olds like Field of Gold get eight pounds from their senior rivals, which in this case almost doesn’t seem fair. Among the older set is ex-American racer Carl Spackler, a deep longshot.
John Gosden, who co-trains Field of Gold with his son Thady, points to the dips, rises, and turns that form a large portion of the Sussex as a new experience Field of Gold must master. But Gosden doesn’t appear too concerned. Field of Gold is a very athletic horse with a big turn of foot, and on form, he appears to better suit turning courses than straight ones.
He finished fourth of nine, his lowest placing in eight starts, in the Group 1 Jean-Luc Lagardere last fall, not coincidentally Field of Gold’s lone try over a course rated soft. Goodwood as of Monday labeled its course good with no rain in the forecast until Thursday.
The Sussex winner receives an automatic fees-paid entry into the Breeders’ Cup Mile, a race that could wind up on Field of Gold’s agenda since the colt figures to love a sharp, fast-paced mile over firm ground at Del Mar. An earlier race Wednesday, the Molecomb, is a BC Challenge series race linked to the Juvenile Turf Sprint.
Two of the Sussex entrants serve as pacemakers, including Qirat, like Field of Gold a Juddmonte homebred, though one trained by Ralph Beckett. Serengeti runs in the service of Henri Matisse, who delivered a withering run to capture the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf last fall, and who won the French 2000 Guineas this spring. Henri Matisse managed second in the St. James’s Palace but never came close to Field of Gold.
Four-year-old Rosallion missed by a nose last out in the Group 1 Queen Anne at Ascot, and in 2024 pulled the same double as Field of Gold, the Irish 2000 and the St. James’s Palace. As of Monday, British bookmakers listed him as the second choice, offering about 9-2. Field of Gold was 2-5, a desperately short antepost number, though one reflecting the superstar potential this colt has shown.
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