(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Unbeaten five-year-old French horse Solow notched his eighth consecutive win yesterday, beating second-placed Arod by half a length, to bag the £1m Qatar Sussex Stakes, the feature race of the day at the Qatar Goodwood Festival.
Solow, ridden by Maxime Guyon, was a worthy winner despite the narrow winning margin, forging past front-runner Arod in the final half-furlong and winning the 39-horse race for three-year-old and above Class I.
The Freddy Head-trained five-year-old has now won eight consecutive races, four them Group 1s, including the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot last month.
Although a convincing winner, Solow did not have to face Gleneagles, whose absence from the field turned the anticipated "Duel on the Downs" to what appeared almost a one-horse race and the heavily-supported winner was sent off as a 2-5 favourite.
Gleneagles, the Aidan O'Brien-trained dual Guineas winner, was withdrawn due to the ground, which although described as good yesterday was still regarded as too soft for the fast ground-favouring horse.
The track at Goodwood continued to dry out yesterday with the official description changed to good - from good to soft, good in places.
Having ended the weekend with soft going, which led to a number of high-profile absentees, most notably Gleneagles in today's £1m Qatar Sussex Stakes, conditions have improved significantly.
Commenting on the nature of the race course, Clerk Seamus Buckley said: "The course rode extremely well, better than a lot of people were expecting after two inches of rain in four days. I'm calling it (racecourse) good, which will be a surprise to everyone but that's what it is."
"The ground takes it so well, once the rain goes through the topsoil and into the choke you are away."
In other races yesterday, Tom Dascombe-trained two-year-old Kachy, Richard Kingscote in saddle, was too quick for his Molecombe Stakes rivals and kept his unbeaten record, winning the Group 3 sprint holding off the evens favourite King Of Rooks by three quarters of a length.
Al Shaqab Racing-owned and trained by Richard Hannon, King Of Rooks was forced out wide from stall one, with jockey Frankie Dettori niggling him along at halfway, but came with a daunting run inside the final furlong yet could not get past the worthy winner, while the Godolphin-owned Rouleau was a further two lengths back in third.
Three-year-old Highland Reel (Joe O'Brien up) edged out Scottish (Jim Crowley up) by a length and a half, after a thrilling head-to-head sprint in the final leg of the mile-and-a-half race for Gordon Stakes (Group 3).
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