Conditions key to Rosallion’s Sussex Stakes run

Richard Hannon will be led by ground conditions as he decides the next move of his star miler Rosallion.

The four-year-old was most recently seen finishing second by a nose in the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot, prior to which he was third in Lockinge when making his long-awaited return to action.

The Sussex Stakes at the Qatar Goodwood Festival is under discussion as his next outing, but the Prix Jacques Le Marois at Deauville is also on Hannon’s radar and the going will ultimately be a key factor in the decision.

The trainer said: “Rosallion is in great form. We aren’t 100 per cent sure where we are going to go.

“Probably the Sussex, but maybe the Prix Jacques Le Marois. It’s all ground dependent.

“He came out of his last race absolutely no problem at all. I think he thinks he won.”

Should Rosallion head to the Sussex he could cross paths with John and Thady Gosden’s Field Of Gold, winner of the Irish 2,000 Guineas and the St James’s Palace Stakes.

Aidan O’Brien’s Henri Matisse, triumphant in the French 2000 Guineas, is also present in the line up, alongside stablemate The Lion In Winter.

Docklands, who prevailed in the Queen Anne, has stood his ground for Harry Eustace and Jerome Reynier’s Facteur Cheval, placed in the race for the past two seasons, is the sole French-trained horse on the entries list after the forfeit stage.