Goodwood off the table for unbeaten Quddwah as Crisfords target French Group 1 instead

Opposition to Rosallion and company in next week’s Group 1 Qatar Sussex Stakes at Goodwood will not include the unbeaten Quddwah, whose connections revealed he will miss the Glorious meeting in favour of the Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville on August 11.

Quddwah, a general 10-1 chance for the Sussex Stakes on Wednesday week, took his unbeaten record to four last time when landing his highest-profile success in the Group 2 Summer Mile at Ascot this month.

He had made a successful return in the Listed Paradise Stakes on Royal Ascot Trials day at Ascot in May, but was forced to miss his intended target of the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes the following month due to a low blood count.

Simon and Ed Crisford: joint-trainers of QuddwahCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

The son of Kingman looked to have put that episode behind him when overcoming Ancient Rome and Embesto at Ascot, with connections now hopeful for a productive second half of the campaign.

Joint-trainer Ed Crisford said: “After discussions with the owner [Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum] it has been decided that Quddwah’s next race will be the Prix Jaques le Marois at Deauville. We feel that the track will play to his strengths, and it gives us a bit more time between his races rather than going for the Sussex Stakes.”

Crisford added: “He’s been in good shape since Ascot and it will be good to see how he gets on in top-level company. He’s still very lightly raced and hopefully still has it all ahead of him.”

The Prix Jacques le Marois is in the genes of the four-year-old as in 2014 it was won by Kingman, whose son Palace Pier was successful in the straight-mile event in 2020 and 2021.

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