Bold Juddmonte International plan shows Alcohol Free team lack nothing in spirit

It seems entirely appropriate that Alcohol Free has ended up racing in the colours of Jeff Smith. The horse and her owner share some similar attributes, all of them laudable. She proved that on this, her biggest day. Smith had shown his very fine true colours the previous morning.

Tuesday was deadline day. If Alcohol Free was to be kept in the Juddmonte International, Smith would need to sanction another £5,000 payment. Bearing in mind we wondered last autumn whether or not the Cheveley Park Stakes winner could stretch her stamina from six furlongs to a mile, and given that following the Coronation Stakes there had been talk of a tilt at the July Cup, it might to most of us have looked rather bold to contemplate tackling an extended ten-furlong Group 1 test on the Knavesmire.

Smith and trainer Andrew Balding thought differently. Whether or not they had a word with Alcohol Free in advance is unclear, yet she did nothing to discourage their ambition by not only winning the Qatar Sussex Stakes but doing so with such power and determination that in Goodwood's winner's enclosure Smith sounded more than keen to take on the York challenge.