150-1 pacemaker Qirat pulls off historic Sussex Stakes upset to leave Field Of Gold and Goodwood stunned

It has happened before and it will happen again, but watching Qirat go from pacesetting front-runner for favourite Field Of Gold to 150-1 winner of the Sussex Stakes left the whole of Goodwood in a state of shock.

Who, what and how were the questions being asked by a crowd who came to see the anointing of the best miler of his generation but instead witnessed the longest-priced winner of a Group 1 in Britain.

Beaten by 26 of his 29 rivals in the Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot on his previous start, Qirat is rated 24lb inferior to Field Of Gold and was still available at 20-1 for the Clipper Handicap at next month's Ebor meeting moments before the race. 

He did, however, boast an unbeaten two-from-two record at Goodwood and, more pertinently, was allowed to open up a sizable lead over the protagonists through the first half of the race.

At one point Qirat even had his own pacemaker in the shape of Ballydoyle's Serengeti, who took him as far as the entrance to the final furlong before passing the baton.

Rosallion did his utmost to close him down from there, but Qirat had enough in reserve to pull off what will be remembered as one of the greatest giantkilling performances of all time. 

• The shock of shocks: how Qirat pulled off an almighty Goodwood surprise and where it went wrong for Field Of Gold 
• 'The engine wasn't there' - John Gosden reflects on Field Of Gold's shock Sussex Stakes defeat 
• No long shot on pedigree: Juddmonte blood to the fore as Bluestocking's half-brother Qirat shines in Sussex Stakes

"He's always threatened to be a good horse, I've just never managed to get it out of him until today," said winning trainer Ralph Beckett. 

"He was here to set the pace and go 12-second furlongs from the front. That's what he was here to do and the longer he lasted, the better it was for everyone concerned with him. That was the idea.

"Having watched the clock, I think he achieved that, and the last thing I said to Richard Kingscote before he got on him was, 'Keep going on this fellow. He isn't going to stop and he could run really well here'."

If anyone was due a change of luck it was Beckett, who watched stable lynchpin Kinross miss out on running in Tuesday's Lennox Stakes after he was kicked by a rival at the start, while stablemate Sing Us A Song was unruly in the stalls before disappointing in the 1m4f handicap which kicked off the Qatar-backed Sussex Stakes card.

The tide started to turn, however, when Saqqara Sands and Tabiti, both trained by Beckett, dead-heated for first in the very next race, and little over an hour later he was celebrating his first Group 1 of the year. 

Qirat and Richard Kingscote after winning the Sussex StakesCredit: Edward Whitaker

"Yesterday I couldn't get a kick in a stampede, but my horse got one down at the start and that's the way it's gone," said Beckett. "Ever since Ascot it's felt like pushing water uphill, but that's the way the game is. It's a great leveller and everyone gets a turn, good or bad. The last hour has turned it around." 

Kingscote, soon to leave Britain to continue his riding career in Hong Kong, said he felt like a thief after the race, although there was no fluke about his mastery from the front.  

"I feel like a villain, but when I saw it wasn't a grey nose coming towards me I kept going," said the winning rider. "Ultimately, we were there as a helping hand to go an even gallop and we were somewhat ignored early then took a lead off Wayne Lordan.

"Towards the cutaway I was thinking he was going well, but you always expect the horses rated 20lb higher to be coming through. I could see Rosallion coming, but my horse kept pulling out.

"I think Ralph was happy to have me on as I like being in front, like my fractions and it worked out okay. It's a bit surreal but great to be going to Hong Kong on a positive note."

Team Field Of Gold debrief after a shocking Sussex Stakes resultCredit: Edward Whitaker

Field Of Gold appeared to return unscathed having trailed home in fourth, with rider William Buick telling connections that he felt flat during the race.

Barry Mahon, European racing manager to Juddmonte, owners of both the beaten favourite and Qirat, added: "Field Of Gold looks fine and we'll obviously have to get him home and check him out, but William felt he didn't handle the track and, for whatever reason, said he felt flat. It's not the Field Of Gold we know. 

"Being gelded has helped Qirat, but he's a half-brother to Bluestocking and has an unbelievable pedigree. Aidan O'Brien also says pedigree comes out and today pedigree came out for him."

How did that happen?

By Keith Melrose, betting editor

The race-winning move in the Sussex Stakes ironically came from Wayne Lordan on Serengeti. 

Lordan and Richard Kingscote on the winner Qirat were going a good but not suicidal gallop in the early furlongs. When Serengeti did the classic pacemaking move, and sacrificed himself starting from the top of the straight, it may well have lulled the riders on the big players into a false sense of security.

Meanwhile, the best place to be according to the sectionals was always pretty much where Kingscote sat. He let Lordan go, thereby conserving just enough energy to capitalise on the contemptuous amount of ground Rosallion, Henri Matisse and Field Of Gold offered to him. In other words, the only horse to make best use of the pacemaker was the other pacemaker.

Read more:

The shock of shocks: how Qirat pulled off an almighty Goodwood surprise and where it went wrong for Field Of Gold 

'The engine wasn't there' - John Gosden reflects on Field Of Gold's shock Sussex Stakes defeat 

No long shot on pedigree: Juddmonte blood to the fore as Bluestocking's half-brother Qirat shines in Sussex Stakes 

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