Glorious win for Rip in Sussex Stakes

Rip Van Winkle finally fulfilled his potential at the top level on Wednesday, winning the 2009 Sussex Stakes at the Glorious Goodwood Meeting.

Aidan O’Brien’s colt proved to have the measure of 1,000 Guineas winner, Ghanaati, who had to settle for third place after being beaten by Queen Anne Stakes winner Paco Boy.

“I said he was one of the best I’d ridden and he’s shown he’s a great horse,” winning jockey, Johnny Murtagh, said after the race. “At the start of the year I thought he was going to be unbeatable. He will be very hard to beat from now to the end of the season.”

Rip Van Winkle’s performance was all the more remarkable given that he had pulled up lame during training on Tuesday, and had almost been pulled out of the race.

“He was 10 out of 10 lame yesterday evening,” O’Brien told the BBC. “It’s unbelievable. He is an amazing horse. It’s all class with this horse, all cruise and speed. We’ve never had a horse with that much class.”