Canford Cliffs Edging Frankel Ahead of Sussex Stakes

You can count the entries on a single hand even two weeks out from the race and the widely-anticipated Group 1 Sussex Stakes clash between the best runner of his crop taking on one of the most respected contenders on the older handicap division. Canford Cliffs and Frankel are set to finally face off at Goodwood on July 27th and it has already been a fairly wild and wooly few hours on the ante post market.

Virtually all bookmakers have very little between the two but it appears as though Canford Cliffs is just getting the slimmest of edges virtually everywhere. Only Boylesports, Paddy Power and William Hill lists them in a true dead-heat with both contenders at 11/10. In most cases, Canford Cliffs sits at either 1/1 or 6/5 with Frankel just off the pace at 11/10.

Punters are quite likely scared off Frankel a bit based on the slim margin of victory in his last outing. The undefeated Juddmonte colt was sent far too early and just clung on in the final stages to win by less than a length from the oncoming Zoffany.

Frankel was able to preserve his undefeated record but the margin of victory will certainly be cause for concern for all connections – Tom Queally in particular. It will be his first run over the testing Goodwood surface and, even though he ranks alongside Black Caviar as the world's best horse at the moment, many punters are wondering whether he really is a 130 rated three-year-old.

In-form Canford Cliffs has won both of his outings this year – notably against living legend Goldikova in his last one in the Group 1 Queen Anne. It appears as though his old tormentor Dick Turpin, who got the better of him in their first meeting before losing out last year in the rematch, will be looking for revenge. Neebras lines up for Godolphin but is already looking lukewarm at 33s. It's clear that many expect this one to be a match race but the presence of Zoffany and Dick Turpin definitely complicates this one. Both look like they just might have the number of their respective favoured counterparts if everything goes according to plan.