Buick relishing taking on big two in Sussex showdown

William Buick is relishing the prospect of Opera Ballo taking on Classic-winning rivals Bow Echo and Gstaad in the Visit Qatar Sussex Stakes on Wednesday.

The trio are part of a field of 12 runners declared for the Group One feature on day two of the Qatar Goodwood Festival, with George Boughey’s 2000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes winner Bow Echo a hot favourite to maintain his unbeaten record as he tackles his elders for the first time.

One of those older rivals is the Charlie Appleby-trained Opera Ballo, who set out to make all the running in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot last month before being caught late on by the shock winner Ten Bob Tony and More Thunder, beaten just three-quarters of a length into third place.

“It’s always been the plan since the Queen Anne to go to the Sussex and he’s a very talented horse,” said Buick.

“To do what he did in the Queen Anne into a headwind was a tough thing to do, but Goodwood is a different track.

“He’s taking on the best three-year-olds and in the Sussex you always find out how the younger horses stand against their elders. It’s going to be a fascinating race and it’s not going to be easy for anyone.”

Having broken his top-level duck in Dubai during the winter, Buick is hopeful he can get that first Group One win on home soil at some stage.

He added: “We think Opera Ballo is a Group One horse and we think he has put up performances this year in this country that show he is.

“He’s always had a very good attitude, but I suppose sometimes he just gives a little bit too much of himself. We’ve learned a bit about him now and hopefully he’s learned as well.”

Aidan O’Brien has saddled six winners of the Sussex Stakes, one short of the record set by Sir Henry Cecil, and this year the Ballydoyle handler is triple-handed.

Gstaad appears the stable’s chief hope, having finished second to Bow Echo at Newmarket and Ascot with an Irish Guineas win sandwiched in between. Puerto Rico and possible pacemaker Dorset are his other contenders.

Ed Walker’s Ten Bob Tony gets the chance to prove his Queen Anne triumph was no fluke, while Eve Johnson Houghton’s stable star Zavateri makes his first appearance since finishing second in the Greenham Stakes in April.

Docklands (Harry Eustace), Lake Forest (William Haggas), Never So Brave (Andrew Balding), last year’s 150-1 Sussex winner Qirat (Ralph Beckett) who is also declared to run 24 hours earlier in the Lennox Stakes and Seagulls Eleven (Hugo Palmer) complete the line-up.