Guineas winners and Group 1 stars headline 32 eye-catching entries for the Group 1 Visit Qatar Sussex Stakes at Goodwood Racecourse on Wednesday, 29 July, a contest which, from 2026, ranks as Europe's richest one-mile race following an increase in prize money to £1.2 million.
George Boughey's emphatic 2,000 Guineas winner Bow Echo features among the early entries, alongside the colt he beat by two and three-quarter lengths at Newmarket, Aidan O'Brien's subsequent Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Gstaad.
Owned and bred by the late Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, the Night Of Thunder colt's Newmarket success on 2 May handed Boughey a first colts' Classic and provided 20-year-old jockey Billy Loughnane with his first British Group 1 victory.
Gstaad enjoyed a high-class juvenile campaign, winning the Group 2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot before providing Aidan O'Brien with a record 21st Breeders' Cup triumph in the Grade 1 Juvenile Turf at Del Mar. Having finished runner-up to Bow Echo after being supplemented for the Newmarket Guineas at the start of race week, the son of Starspangledbanner gained Classic compensation with an emphatic three-length success in the Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh on 23 May.
Gstaad heads a nine-strong Ballydoyle challenge at early entry stage alongside Constitution River, who produced an exceptional performance when landing the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club on his latest start. The strength and depth of Aidan O'Brien's squad is further highlighted by the presence of Guineas-winning fillies Diamond Necklace, Precise and True Love, all of whom feature among the early entries.
The wider Classic generation is further represented by Eve Johnson Houghton's Group 1-winning juvenile Zavateri, who returned this season to finish an unlucky runner-up in the Group 3 Greenham Stakes before suffering a setback that ruled him out of Classic engagements, while Charlie Appleby's Talk Of New York looks a colt of considerable potential after his impressive Listed success in the Heron Stakes at Sandown.
The international challenge is led by Al Shaqab Racing's Sahlan, who defeated Rosallion in last year's Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp at ParisLongchamp. The Wootton Bassett four-year-old is trained by Francis-Henri Graffard.
Charlie Appleby's Notable Speech, a five-time Group 1 winner, is the highest-rated older miler entered on an Official Rating of 125. The 2024 2,000 Guineas and Sussex Stakes winner added the Group 1 Woodbine Mile and Breeders' Cup Mile to his haul in North America last autumn before claiming a fifth top-level prize in the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on 16 May.
He shares top billing with Godolphin stablemate Opera Ballo (also OR 125), winner of this year's Group 1 Jebel Hatta at Meydan, while the older division also includes Lockinge runner-up More Thunder and Queen Anne Stakes winner Docklands.
A second runner in the colours of the late Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum is provided by Karl Burke's Zeus Olympios, who finished third behind Notable Speech and More Thunder in last month's Lockinge Stakes at Newbury. The Night Of Thunder four-year-old was unbeaten in four starts as a three-year-old, culminating in Group 2 success in the Joel Stakes at Newmarket.
The 2025 Sussex Stakes hero Qirat also returns for Juddmonte and Ralph Beckett, bidding to defend the Group 1 title he claimed at odds of 150/1 last July, the longest-priced winner of a Group 1 race in British and Irish racing history.
The depth of the early entries is further emphasised by the presence of a host of proven Group performers and progressive contenders from many of the leading stables in Britain and Ireland.
Ed Arkell, Director of Racing at Goodwood, said: “We are delighted with the calibre of the early entries for this year's Visit Qatar Sussex Stakes, which promises to be one of the highlights of the Qatar Goodwood Festival.
“The race has attracted an outstanding line-up headed by Guineas winners, established Group 1 performers and some of the most exciting milers from both the Classic generation and older division.
With prize money rising to £1.2 million, it is hugely encouraging to see such strong support from owners and trainers and we look forward to welcoming them to Goodwood next month.”
There is a scratchings deadline for the Qatar Sussex Stakes on Tuesday, July 7, with the six-day confirmation and £80,000 supplementary entry stage following on Thursday, July 23.
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