Glorious Goodwood 2017 – Here Comes When wins the Qatar Sussex Stakes as Ribchester is beaten
THE Qatar Sussex Stakes produced yet another shock this week at Goodwood as 20-1 shot Here Comes When got the better of hot favourite Ribchester.
Having already won the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury and the Queen Anne Stakes this season, Richard Fahey's Ribchester was odds-on to complete a Group 1 hat-trick, especially after the late withdrawal of dual 2,000 Guineas winner Churchill.
Ribchester made much of the running in the deteriorating conditions, but the Andrew Balding-trained Here Comes When battled his way to the front in the hands of champion jockey Jim Crowley.
Just when it looked as though Ribchester was fading, he rallied to the cause, but while he was making ground again at the finish, Here Comes When held on by a neck.
Balding said: "He's here for a reason. We were praying that we got the rain and it's come in time. Jim gave him a great ride.
"He's a very decent horse on this sort of ground. You look back through his form and he's won two Group 2s before, he was fourth in this race a couple of years ago on ground quicker than ideal and he deserved to be in the field.
"I think he came back this year in better form than ever. When he won at York earlier in the year he was very impressive.
"On this ground, he's stones better than he is on quicker ground."