The QIPCO
Sussex Stakes was billed beforehand as 'the Duel on the Downs' and the Group 1
contest did not disappoint as Toronado finished with a wet-sail to beat his big
rival Dawn Approach by half a length.
Toronado,
who received a big cheer from the crowd, had lost out to Dawn Approach in both
the QIPCO 2000 Guineas and St James's Palace Stakes and winning training
Richard Hannon was pleased to set the record straight.
"I'd
say they are two top-class horses," said Hannon. "I told Hughesie to
drop in, it was the only thing he could do from that draw. I didn't want him to
catch the pacemakers coming back.
"It
was looking difficult two furlongs out but our horse has a hell of a turn of
foot.
"Hughesie
rode him at home four or five days ago and said he was the best he'd ever
ridden, even better than Canford Cliffs, who was a very good work horse.
"I'd
have loved him to have won at Ascot but I was just very happy to see him come
back to form after his Guineas run."
Looking
to the future, Hannon's son and assistant Richard added: "We'll see how he
comes out of this but the Jacques Le Marois and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes
are the obvious races.
"He'll
stick to a mile this year but he'll stay in training next season when perhaps
he could step up to 10 furlongs at some point."
Jockey
Richard Hughes added: "He's proved he's a brilliant horse. My plan was
'wide, fast and late' and luckily it worked. I didn't want to get into a battle
with Dawn Approach so I wanted to get there late and fast.
"They
went a good gallop and we saw two wonderful horses, I'm just glad our's was the
most wonderful horse. It's very sweet.
"When
I kicked him in the belly he was not as instant on that ground as he would have
been on fast ground. It was a great race and, when I didn't go by Dawn Approach
quickly I thought 'oh no here we go again' but he was very brave. He's
brilliant
"I
felt he had come on a little bit at home mentally and he was a more mature
horse.
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