Sheer force of will prevails in epic battle of sexes

Name Marling
Year of birth 1989
Pedigree Lomond (sire) – Marwell (dam)
Owner-breeder Sir Edmund Loder
Trainer Geoff Wragg
Jockey Pat Eddery
Before the duel Unbeaten in four starts at two including Cheveley Park; suffered only defeat when unlucky in 1,000 Guineas before decisive victories in Irish version at the Curragh and Coronation Stakes.
After the duel Sussex Stakes seemed to take its toll as she did not make the frame in two subsequent starts, unplaced in QEII (on soft ground) before respectable fifth on dirt in the 1m1f Breeders' Cup Distaff at Gulfstream. Retired as champion three-year-old filly but only moderate success as broodmare at owner's Eyrefield Lodge Stud; died February 2013 aged 24.

Name Selkirk
Year of birth 1988
Pedigree Sharpen Up (sire) – Annie Edge (dam)
Owner-breeder George Strawbridge
Trainer Ian Balding
Jockey Ray Cochrane
Before the duel: Champion miler as three-year-old in 1991 thanks to emphatic victory in QEII; won Lockinge on reappearance before being unplaced in Prix d'Ispahan, after which he coughed and missed work.
After the duel: won pair of Group 2s, running out easy winner of Celebration Mile at Goodwood on next outing and also won Challenge Stakes at Newmarket before coming fifth in Breeders' Cup Mile. Became leading British-based sire at Lanwades, responsible for 92 stakes winners (among them 16 at Group/Grade 1 level); died January 2013 aged 25.

Marling versus Selkirk: filly versus colt, a good little 'un against a good big 'un in an epic clash of the generations. It may not have been the first titanic clash ever to take place at Glorious Goodwood, but the 1992 Sussex Stakes feels like the original 'Duel on the Downs'.

Neither horse gave an inch – nor, for that matter, did the jockeys, Eddery and Cochrane at their strongest – in a sustained struggle destined to be remembered as one of the most exhilarating mile races of the modern era.

On paper this Sussex Stakes looked no obvious match race as an eight-horse field also featured the previous year's winner Second Set and Breeders' Cup Sprint hero Sheikh Albadou, stepping up in trip after finishing third in the July Cup. The two who mattered, however, were Marling, the diminutive three-year-old filly who would probably still have been unbeaten but for traffic problems in the Guineas, and the imposing four-year-old Selkirk, the champion miler from 1991.

Bred by her owner Sir Edmund Loder, Marling was a daughter of Lomond and the outstanding sprinter Marwell, herself a champion at two and three. Trained by Geoff Wragg and blessed with a heart bigger than herself, Marling went to Goodwood seeking her fourth Group 1 triumph, having added clear-cut victories in the Irish 1,000 Guineas and Coronation Stakes to her Cheveley Park Stakes victory at two; all told, she had won six out of seven, a head defeat to Hatoof in the Guineas the only blemish on an otherwise flawless record.

The year-older Selkirk was also a homebred, a huge chestnut with a white blaze and long white socks on his hind legs representing American owner George Strawbridge. A tall, gangly, unfurnished rig when he joined Ian Balding's Kingsclere academy, he had to overcome serious issues – among them an operation to remove that trapped testicle – before becoming Europe's champion miler in 1991, when he thumped his rivals in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.

But although he began his four-year-old campaign where he had left off the previous season with a commanding performance in the Lockinge (then a Group 2), Selkirk had a bout of coughing after a lacklustre effort in France in the Prix d'Ispahan and missed a crucial piece of work. Balding was to rue this far from ideal preparation for an enervating contest in the Sussex.

With regular jockey Walter Swinburn claimed to ride Sheikh Albadou as part of his Maktoum Al Maktoum retainer – carrying the colours of Hilal Salem, the colt fell under the Gainsborough banner – the legendary Pat Eddery came in for the ride on Marling. In receipt of 11lb (weight-for-age plus gender allowance), she was made 11-10 favourite, with Selkirk and Second Set bracketed on the 7-2 mark. Sheikh Albadou was as big as 11-1, with the other four 16-1 or better.

Two of those outsiders, Thourios and Rudimentary – representing those training giants of days gone by Guy Harwood and Henry Cecil – ensured a fierce pace: this was a race bad for the vital organs, going from lung-bursting gallop to heart-stopping duel. "It was an interesting scenario," recalled Marling's owner a couple of decades after the event. "The very fast pace suited us as we wanted Marling held up, but not too far back."

Marling was third turning for home, with Selkirk a couple of places behind; almost forgotten as the race recedes down the gunsight of racing history is that Goodwood was to play its usual tricks on at least two horses as both Second Set and Sheikh Albadou failed to find a clear passage. They were to finish third and fourth, three-quarters of a length and two more behind the principals.

This head-to-head confrontation wasn't about them, however. As the field charged down the Goodwood straight, it was Selkirk who swept to the front, the chestnut giant looking all set to overwhelm his opponents as they neared the furlong pole. On his inner, Marling was all out but she was not beaten in any shape or form: courage and tenacity made equine flesh, she fought for her life under an energetic Eddery, who was just back from a five-day suspension. "Nobody can do the luggage-lifting act like Eddery," suggested Paul Hayward in his report for The Independent. "Short of getting off and hoisting the horse over the shoulders, no jockey could do more to force a conveyance over the line."

The pair were virtually inseparable for the final furlong, two outstanding milers giving their all as their riders chucked everything at them, two sheepskin nosebands thrust towards the line. Selkirk was narrowly ahead 50 yards out but it was the unyielding, unflinching Marling who prevailed – by sheer force of will, and "by the width of a cigarette paper" according to Peter O'Sullevan on the BBC.

Officially it was a head, although it looked much, much tighter. "She was a filly with tremendous heart," recalled the owner's cousin David Loder, at that time assistant to Geoff Wragg. "It was one hell of a struggle against a bigger horse; they went at it hammer and tongs from a long way out."

Edmund Loder added: "Selkirk certainly headed Marling a furlong out but she had a bit more to give. It was a battle of age and size. Thankfully, the younger, smaller horse prevailed."

Drenched in sweat after his superhuman efforts, Eddery – whose death in November 2015 shocked the racing world – marvelled at Marling, saying: "She travelled really well and when she came with her challenge a furlong out she looked like winning only for Selkirk to come up on her outside. He had her at that stage but she was such a game little thing. I thought we were beaten but not only was she very good, she was also very game."

Ray Cochrane may have been beaten on Selkirk, but years later he was in no doubt about the momentous nature of the contest in which he had played an integral role. "The race went according to plan except that I may have got to the front a fraction sooner than I wanted," he said. "I was headed by a great filly with a great jockey on board. It was probably one of the best races ever run at Goodwood."

Such was the drama that, even though he lost, Balding was moved to say: "I'm thrilled to have been part of such a fantastic race." Years later, he admitted: "It was one of the great races but what I really remember is a feeling of regret. My first thought was: 'Bugger'. I think if he hadn't missed that gallop he would have held on. I was cursing myself!"

Maybe so, but his representative had fully played his part in a never-to-be-forgotten duel. Timeform, in an overly measured comment, described it as "possibly the most stirring finish of the British season". Take out the "possibly" and you're almost there.

1992 Sussex Stakes full result