Notable Speech bounced back for Charlie Appleby with a convincing victory in the Gr1 Qatar Sussex Stakes, the £1 million highlight of the Qatar Goodwood Festival on Wednesday.
Shrugging off a disappointing run in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, Notable Speech rediscovered the form which saw him capture the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket.
The 11/10 favourite Henry Longfellow and outsider Sonny Liston made the early running, but in the home straight Notable Speech was sitting quietly on their heels. Once the field reached the cutaway, William Buick’s mount quickened impressively towards the far rail and accelerated clear.
William Buick salutes as Notable Speech returns (Pic- Goodwood Racecourse)
Runner-up Maljoom finished a length and a half behind, a neck ahead of French challenger Facteur Cheval, while Henry Longfellow, who finished nearly six lengths ahead of Notable Speech at Royal Ascot, was fourth.
Appleby said: “When you have an unbeaten Classic winner going into a St James’s Palace Stakes and you’re beaten the way we were, of course you walk away disappointed. But I was happier to be beaten the way we were than to finish second or third and say we weren’t good enough. He just didn’t turn up, simple as that. The question will probably always be asked, and I will probably never have the answer to it, unfortunately.
“Coming into today, his preparation was faultless. He looked great, and pre-race we shaved a couple of kilos back off him again. Was that winning or losing? I don’t think so, to be honest. I think he is just a horse who turned up with his A-game again. He got a great trip round there. I was wondering whether they had taken the cutaway away – I was waiting for it to turn up – but once the cutaway arrived, William had plenty of horse underneath him to go and make use of it.
“What I love about him is that he hasn’t got great stride length, but he turns those legs over quick, and that’s why you see that acceleration. You’ll see plenty of horses in the morning that have great stride length and everyone will be very excited about it, but I like it when they turn them over quicker. It’s normally a sign that they can quicken up.
“Someone asked me yesterday, where was Notable Speech this time last year? I said he’d only just turned up in the yard and was probably doing one canter up our short canter of five furlongs, no more than that. Everyone who sat on him liked him, but he just wasn’t strong enough to do what was expected of him at that time in his career. Therefore, I was in a very fortunate position to be able to give a horse like him the time, and hopefully bring the best out of them, and in his case it certainly has.
“We haven’t really made a plan – we just wanted to make sure we nailed today. What I am very happy with is that he is maturing – not in the paddock, we’ve seen him in the paddock before Ascot, before the Guineas, before his Kempton run, and you couldn’t get a more horizontal horse walking round the paddock. But what he’s learnt is coming to the races and in the stable yard, where he has shown immaturity in the past. All credit to Emily who looks after him and all the team back home who have done a fantastic job. In the actual race you couldn’t get a more mature horse considering the lack of experience he has, but the rest of it is all starting to click into place now, and I feel that is hopefully going to keep him where he is at the top table.
“Of course we’d love to go to America. He’s learning week on week and maturing, so I wouldn’t rule it out of the equation.”
Buick said: “Notable Speech was firing on all cylinders coming in here today. He was a brilliant Guineas winner, with a very rare turn of foot that you very rarely see, and we saw that again today.
“I am delighted. Full credit to the team. They’ve done such a fantastic job to get him back after a disappointing run in the St James’s Palace Stakes, when we knew it was too bad to be true.
“When you come into the thick of the race when the taps get turned on I was a lot happier in every sense [than Royal Ascot]. Whichever way I looked at it, I could not get away from what he did at Newmarket in the Guineas. That gave me plenty of confidence.
“He is such an uncomplicated horse and takes everything in his stride. A horse with his ability and turn of foot is rare to see. He’s a horse that really excites you and it’s a real privilege to ride him. When you have a horse with the kick that he has, it makes the job a lot easier. He is a brilliant horse.”
Maureen Haggas said of Maljoom: “That was very good. Each run this year he’s got better. I’d like to try him over a mile and a quarter. He’s always slow away – you can’t give these good horses ground, but he ran on very well. He is a beautiful horse, and I hope there’s more to come.”
Co-owner Michael Tabor said of Henry Longfellow: “The horse alongside him early in the race hustled him up and Ryan said he was never comfortable on this track. He has to be a lot better than that but only time will tell.”
Qatar Sussex Stakes (Group 1) (British Champions Series)
1 Notable Speech (Godolphin) Charlie Appleby 3-9-02 William Buick 3/1
2 Maljoom (Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum) William Haggas 5-9-10 Tom Marquand 11/2
3 Facteur Cheval (Team Valor International & Gary Barber) Jerome Reynier FR 5-9-10 Maxime Guyon
5 ran 11/10F Henry Longfellow (4th)
Charlie Appleby – 18th Qatar Goodwood Festival winner
William Buick – 40th Qatar Goodwood Festival winner
