'He looks fantastic' - can Notable Speech bounce back from 'strange' Ascot run against Henry Longfellow in the Sussex Stakes?

Charlie Appleby believes 2,000 Guineas hero Notable Speech has been showing all the right signs in his bid to bounce back to his best in the Qatar Sussex Stakes.

Notable Speech only made his debut at the end of January but took his record to 4-4 when beating Sussex Stakes absentee Rosallion by a length and a half in the first Classic of the season at Newmarket in May.

The Godolphin colt was a 6-4 favourite to extend his unbeaten run in the St James’s Palace at Royal Ascot last month but failed to fire, beating just French outsider Darlinghurst in a six-length seven behind Rosallion.

There was no reason found for his below-par display at the royal meeting, but if bouncing back, Notable Speech is the one to beat on official ratings in this five-runner field for the £1 million race. He is rated 1lb higher than fellow three-year-old Henry Longfellow and 2lb higher than the five-year-old Facteur Cheval.

Charlie Appleby: trainer of Notable SpeechCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Appleby said: “Notable Speech has had a little break since Royal Ascot and hasn’t missed a beat heading into this.

“His run in the St James’s Palace Stakes was obviously disappointing and it was a strange race to watch as he didn’t run through the line at all. We had him checked out by the vets afterwards and nothing came to light.

“He looks fantastic at the moment and we couldn’t be happier with his work. He has been showing us all the right signs and we're very much looking forward to it.”

Appleby is aiming to win a second Group 1 at Glorious Goodwood, having landed the Nassau with Wild Illusion in 2018.

Modern Games fared best of Appleby’s two runners to have contested this race when second to Baaeed two years ago, while Godolphin’s last Sussex scorer was Ramonti in 2007.

Henry Longfellow ‘progressing nicely’ says O’Brien

Henry Longfellow arrives on the back of a career-best second in the St James’s Palace and Aidan O’Brien feels he has taken a step forward since that effort.

Three of Henry Longfellow’s five starts have been in Group 1s and he finished almost six lengths in front of main market rival Notable Speech at Royal Ascot.

Ryan Moore’s mount was a five-length winner of the National Stakes at the Curragh on his final start at two, and while the Poule d'Essai des Poulains failed to pan out favourably on his return in May, he was back to form when beaten just a neck by Rosallion last time.

Henry Longfellow matched Notable Speech’s Guineas Racing Post Rating of 123 at Royal Ascot and they share the same adjusted RPR of 127 for this race.

O’Brien said: “His run in France was basically a non-event and he got nothing out of it so we’re treating this like his second run of the season.

“His first real race was in the St James’s Palace and we thought he ran a lovely race there. We think he has come forward from that at home and he seems to be progressing nicely. Everyone is happy with him.”

O’Brien could equal the late Sir Henry Cecil’s record of seven winners in the race if Henry Longfellow is successful. The Ballydoyle trainer struck with last year’s favourite Paddington and 2016 scorer The Gurkha in the past decade.

Cheval team hoping to be a factor

Last year’s second Facteur Cheval heads the older opposition and should not be overlooked.

Facteur Cheval was beaten a length and a half by Paddington in the day two feature on soft ground last year and returned this campaign with a breakthrough Group 1 success in the Dubai Turf at Meydan on good ground in March.

Maxime Guyon’s mount was only sixth when the 7-2 second favourite for the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot on good to firm last month but it is a run his trainer Jerome Reynier is happy to put a line through.

Reynier said: “Everything went wrong for him at Ascot – the ground was too fast, but more importantly he was on the wrong side of the track and he lost a shoe. It was a run to forget as he has otherwise been very consistent, including when he ran really well in this race last year, and he’s in good shape.”

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What they say

William Haggas, trainer of Maljoom
He's in good form, but needs the ground to dry, which I hope it will do. He'll be better for his run in the Queen Anne. He's going the right way and getting his confidence back. I'm really pleased with him.

Rossa Ryan, rider of Sonny Liston
He seems good and ran really well at Royal Ascot two starts ago. He does need to step up on his form but if they can get a truly run race, which I hope they will, then he could run well.

Going details

The going is good, good to firm in places and a dry and sunny day is forecast, although there is a yellow Met Office weather warning for thunderstorms in the south of England. Temperatures are set to peak at 25C.

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