There is plenty of rain forecast before tomorrow’s Sussex Stakes and very soft ground would be in imponderable, and a concern, for INSPIRAL. John Gosden’s filly ran a fine race in the Queen Anne on her return, but was disappointing second time up last season and on soft ground in the QEII in October.
There should be no going issues for PADDINGTON, who looked well at home on bad ground when winning two races at the start of the season, including one on heavy. His form has taken a few knocks recently, and he’s had some hard races, but on form he has leading claims.
FACTEUR CHEVAL has a little bit to find on ratings but has some good form on bad ground and comes here off a career best. He doesn’t have much to find with Inspiral on a line through Light Infantry and he gets a nice jockey upgrade.
Perhaps the one to chance at double-figure odds is ALDAARY. This horse loves soft ground and is better than he has been able to show this year His seasonal debut came off a long break and was in a messy race, and he looked better than the result last time out when too close to a strong pace relative to the winner. The move he made there, having travelled best, suggests he is coming to the boil nicely and he looks worth a chance to cause the upset provided the ground is soft or worse.
