Field Of Gold found to be lame after Sussex Stakes disappointment

Field Of Gold rsquo;s connections are left waiting for answers following a shock defeat at Goodwood, with injury now emerging as a potential explanation.

Field Of Gold found lame after underwhelming Sussex Stakes run

Plans are on hold for Field Of Gold after the Classic and Royal Ascot winner was discovered to be lame following his disappointing performance in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood. Sent off the 1-3 favourite, the John and Thady Gosden-trained colt was expected to dominate, but finished fourth, well behind surprise 150-1 winner Qirat #226;€”his Juddmonte-owned stablemate and pacemaker.

Barry Mahon, Juddmonte’s European racing manager, confirmed the issue: “We don’t have the full picture yet, but he is lame on his left-hind.” Mahon explained that John Gosden noticed the problem early Friday morning and the vet was due to examine the horse later that day.

“The fact he is lame suggests that could potentially be why we didn’t see the true horse that we know yesterday,” Mahon said. “We just have to sit tight now until the vet can run through all the tests he can run through.”

Next steps uncertain as connections await further tests

With the extent of the issue still unclear, Field Of Gold's return to action remains uncertain. Mahon added: “Plans are on ice and the thing with these things is, it might be a week before anything will show up on an X-ray or whatever, so it’s not something you will have an answer for straight away.”

“The fact the horse is lame indicates there is an issue and we have to address that,” he continued. “What that is and whether it will be a short fix or a long fix, we just don’t know at this stage.”

Despite the setback, Juddmonte still had reason to celebrate with Qirat's shock victory, which brought a bittersweet outcome to the race. “It was disappointing from a Field Of Gold point of view, but from a Juddmonte point of view the winner is a home bred and won it in good style and there has to be some satisfaction in that,” Mahon concluded. “As someone said to me yesterday, it was bittersweet but there was still plenty of sweet.”