2025 Sussex Stakes News - Quotes From Connections
- Key quotes ahead of the 2025 Sussex Stakes
- This Group One will be run at Goodwood on Wednesday 30th July
- Read quotes from John & Thady Gosden, Sean Levey, Aidan O'Brien on our website
- John Gosden (Field Of Gold)
- Aidan O'Brien (Henri Matisse)
- Sean Levey (Rosallion)
- Harry Eustace (Docklands)
Sussex Stakes Quotes
The second Group One to be staged during Glorious Goodwood is the Sussex Stakes, a one-mile contest which provides three-year-olds with their first opportunity to take on older horses.
Here are the quotes from the connections of the horses who'll run in Wednesday's renewal of the Sussex Stakes.
2025 Sussex Stakes - Key Quotes
John Gosden (Field Of Gold)
He’s been a grand horse to train; he's done nothing but thrive this year. We've been pleased with his progress all the way through.
The Sussex is a different test of a horse. If you've ever walked the track, it’s quite a surprise, it runs down into a dip, swings up and around. You don't want too big a field and get a high draw because you are literally down the hill looking at the horses getting the shortest run round up the hill, so the draw is a big factor there if you get a large field. The horse is athletic, he's got great balance, and hopefully he’ll handle the track well. It’s very different to the round mile of Ascot or the Curragh, that’s for sure.
He's in great order, and we’re looking forward to running him. It’s very much the obvious race to go to for him. He does have that great turn of foot, and let’s hope we get a clear run, and he can produce it on the day.
Aidan O'Brien (Henri Matisse)
So far everything has gone well since Ascot and we’re looking forward to seeing him run. We think he’s gone the right way since Ascot.
Sean Levey (Rosallion)
Look, there's no doubt Field Of Gold is going to be very difficult to beat, based on what we've seen of him so far. He's an exceptional horse, but I think we have the right attributes to take him on.
We missed our chance of running at Goodwood last year, but we always thought he had a massive chance of winning it. He's a four-year-old this year which means he has to give away weight, but he's improved at every run, in my opinion, from the Lockinge to just being denied at Ascot in the Queen Anne. He's improved, as good horses do, and I know he's in a really good place coming into this.
To be fair, I think we were very unlucky to be denied in the Queen Anne by what was literally the flare of a nostril. Look, we lacked a bit of luck on that day, but in hindsight - and looking at it optimistically - our first worries were around the two that beat him in the Lockinge, and he beat them by a long way. He ran into a specialist in Docklands, who was very good on the day. But Goodwood is a different story altogether; Rosallion is a good horse who has shown his versatility across a number of racetracks. Docklands can't say the same. Now, of biggest contender is Field Of Gold, who is a very strong three-year-old and one who we would have probably been threatened by if he was around last year. Both of them deserve to take their chance here, and that's what racing is all about.
Yes, we're still waiting for Rosallion's first win since his return, but I don't think it adds any pressure; ultimately, what will be will be, right? This is what makes racing so intriguing. You know, at the end of the day, it's the horses who do all of the running. Once you get everything right in your preparation, it's then up to the horses to show how good they are. With horses like Rosallion, who always wear their hearts on their sleeves, there's nothing really that can be done to add any pressure to you - he's either good enough on the day or he isn't.
Harry Eustace (Docklands)
The track should suit him. He has run there before (in 2023) and to the eye was a little disappointing, but it was his first run off the back of his win in the Britannia and, in hindsight, I don’t know whether I had him 100 per cent.
He handled Epsom well, so I have no problem with the cambers at Goodwood. The quality of the race might be another matter.
It can’t be overstated how important he’s been for us for the last three years. We’ll cherish his two wins at Royal Ascot forever.
We’re a relatively young business and he is by a long way our flagship horse – he has been key to everything that’s happened since.
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