Field Of Gold found to be lame after Sussex Stakes loss
John and Thady Gosden's star three-year-old was sent off the 1-3 favourite to emulate his sire Kingman and thrive against his elders on the Sussex Downs, but could only finish fourth as his Juddmonte-owned pacemaker Qirat caused a seismic shock at 150-1.
The Clarehaven training team suggested the "engine wasn't there" in the immediate aftermath of the contest and now a potential reason for his disappointing performance could have been found.
"We don't have the full picture yet, but he is lame on his left-hind," Barry Mahon, European racing manager for Juddmonte, said.
"John called me this morning at 7am and said he was 'off' behind with a bit of swelling in his leg and the vet is due out to see him later today so until we have the full picture we can't fully diagnose it.
"But the fact he is lame suggests that could potentially be why we didn't see the true horse that we know yesterday. We just have to sit tight now until the vet can run through all the tests he can run through."
With the severity of Field Of Gold's setback still to be determined, it is unknown at this stage when one of the standout performers of the 2025 season will be next seen in competitive action.
Mahon continued: "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.
"But the fact the horse is lame indicates there is an issue and we have to address that. What that is and whether it will be a short fix or a long fix, we just don't know at this stage."
Despite Field Of Gold's surprise reversal, there was still plenty of joy for the Juddmonte team with Ralph Beckett's Qirat stealing the spotlight, with Mahon reflecting on a race of contrasting fortunes.
He added: "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.
"As someone said to me yesterday, it was bittersweet but there was still plenty of sweet."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The 42
3 hours ago
- The 42
Shels bounce back from European defeat at Sligo's expense
Sligo Rovers 0 Shelbourne 2 Jessica Farry reports from the Showgrounds SHELBOURNE BOUNCED back from their European defeat to Qarabag, to extend their unbeaten league run to four games after a 2-0 win over Sligo Rovers at the Showgrounds on Saturday. Ali Coote's strike from distance had Joey O'Brien's side ahead early in the second half, with Sean Boyd's third goal of the season ensuring the three points. Sligo finished the game with 10 men — goalkeeper Sam Sargeant was sent off for what the referee deemed to be handling the ball outside the box, although Sligo disagreed strongly. Unbeaten in their last five league games, John Russell's men could have moved level on points with Galway United in eighth if they were to pick up a win. But the departures of Jake Doyle-Hayes and Francely Lomboto certainly weakened the Bit O'Red's squad this week. New signing Ciaron Harkin was named on the bench, with Russell losing left-back Sean Stewart to injury in the warm-up. Advertisement Shelbourne, fresh from a gruelling trip to Azerbaijan for their Champions League meeting with Qarabag, needed a win to keep the pressure on the top four. Milan Mbeng made his first start for Joey O'Brien's side, who were keen to keep their unbeaten run going in the league. In what was a largely uneventful opening 45 in torrential rain, the half-time talking point was Cian Kavanagh's miss after 10 minutes when the hosts should have taken the lead. Will Fitzgerald's floated free-kick was knocked on for the former St Pat's striker, and just needed the slightest touch to divert it past Speel. But Kavanagh couldn't get to it, and Shels were able to breathe a sigh of relief. Two minutes into the second half, the visitors went ahead. Coote received the ball in the middle of the pitch, shook off a couple of Sligo players and looked up before driving into the top corner with Sam Sargeant beaten in the Bit O'Red goals. Paddy McClean couldn't direct Owen Elding's cross into the net early in the second half, as the home side tried to find a way past Speel. It was game over after 77 minutes when Boyd added a second for Shels. John Martin picked out the 27-year-old striker unmarked in front of goal after Sligo failed to get the ball out from their defence. And it was about to get worse for the home side, who lost Sargeant to a straight red card. Referee Rob Harvey sent the goalkeeper off when he judged him to have handled the ball outside the box, but replays suggest the contact may have been on the line. That result moves Shels to within three points of Drogheda in fourth, while Sligo remain second bottom and three points off Galway in eighth. Sligo Rovers: Sam Sargeant, Conor Reynolds (Wilson Waweru, 67), Paddy McClean, Ollie Denham, Kyle McDonagh (John Mahon, 67), James McManus, Seb Quirk, Jad Hakiki, Owen Elding, Cian Kavanagh (Conor Walsh, 85), Will Fitzgerald. Shelbourne: Wessel Speel, Milan Mbeng (Sean Gannon, 68), Lewis Temple, Paddy Barrett, Kameron Ledwidge, Kerr McInroy, JJ Lunney, James Norris (Sean Moore, 82), Ali Coote (John Martin, 68), Harry Wood (Ellis Chapman, 82), Mipo Odubeko (Sean Boyd, 59). Referee: Rob Harvey Attendance: 3,167
Irish Examiner
5 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
'Too much ego and self-preservation' - New Rangers boss rips players after league opener
Russell Martin spoke scathingly about "egos" and "self-preservation" among his players after Rangers dropped two points at Motherwell on the opening day of the William Hill Premiership campaign. Gers skipper James Tavernier headed in from a corner in the 14th minute but the Ibrox side failed to kick on and eventually succumbed in the 87th minute when Emmanuel Longelo drove in a deserved equaliser for a 1-1 draw. It is the third successive season that Rangers have failed to win their opening game, and on Sunday they could fall behind Old Firm rivals Celtic when the champions host St Mirren. In a spectacular post-match summation of his players, Martin, whose side progressed to the Champions League third qualifying round against Viktoria Plzen with a 3-1 aggregate win over Panathinaikos on Wednesday, said: "I'm very disappointed and a bit hurt and a bit angry at a lot of stuff I saw. "Motherwell were really good, credit to them. But I said to the players, the problems haven't been tactical, yet. They've been mentality, about energy, about courage, intensity, aggression, to play. "We haven't started games well enough in the first half in the two European games and then showed a bit more willingness to trust the detail in each other and work. "And then today, we go ahead and play some OK stuff. Every time we get in the final third, we turn the ball over and make crazy decisions. "They're either selfish decisions or they're based on anxiety, so we need to get to the bottom of that. "Because there was far too much stuff that we haven't worked on or haven't seen. "It's not me digging them out. I take full responsibility for it. But that hurts me more than anything. "The problem should be tactical, it shouldn't be mentality. So we have too many guys that slip into self-preservation mode. And I think it's been a fact of this club for the last few years for sure. "So when it's going well, you're all-in, you want to run, you want the ball. It's nice, but when it's not going well, you don't want to run so much, you pick and choose when you want to run. "You pick and choose when you want to compete and mark your player from a throw-in or a corner. "You pick and choose when to run back, and it's unacceptable for this sort of club. And for us as a coaching staff, this is not acceptable. "We're six weeks in, there will be issues. But the issue today is purely mentality. "So too much ego, too much self-preservation, and you're either all-in all the time or you're not. And if you're not, you just won't play very much." Motherwell's new boss Jens Berthel Askou, a former team-mate of Martin at Norwich who was taking charge of his first league game, was disappointed his side did not take all three points. "I said to players, I was very disappointed on their behalf that they didn't get the win at the end because we did everything we could to get the win," he said. "But again, that's down to quality also in these small situations and we'll keep working on that and sharpen that up. "I think they gave themselves the opportunity to win, and that's where it starts with the effort and with the desperation to go forward and to punish them on their transitions and to really work extremely hard throughout the entire game. "I was very happy with that and I know that if we are able to put our performances like this over time, that there will be many other opportunities to win games."
Irish Daily Mirror
5 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Drogheda Utd fuelled by Euro nightmare to push hard for qualification next term
Josh Thomas is showing Drogheda what they have been missing with his winning goal in his second successive league game to beat Bohs on Friday night. The problem for Kevin Doherty and the Boynesiders is that the Swansea City loanee's strikes in the 1-0 victories against Sligo Rovers and the Gypsies came 16 weeks apart. Thomas suffered a severe grade three quad tear in that home game against Sligo in February, just weeks into his stay, and the Bohs game was just his third league appearance. "When I initially done it, I didn't think it was going to be as long as it was," said the striker, who also hit the back of the net on his comeback in the FAI Cup win over Crumlin a fortnight ago. "And then I tried to come back against Cork away and it just completely went again." READ MORE: Keith Andrew picks his Brentford captain - and it's good news for Ireland fans READ MORE: Tottenham captain Son Heung-min announces final game for the club The former Wales under-21 international went to side-foot a pass in the warm-up against the Leesiders when disaster struck. "It just felt like I erupted," he recalled. "So, we took extra precaution, went home and did my rehab back at Swansea and we took extra care and, yeah, I'm back now." Doherty will be hoping that Thomas can maintain his impact for the remainder of the season-long loan after his late intervention on Friday night after coming off the bench. "I'm buzzing, obviously," he said. "It's a tough place to come, so it was good to get the three points. The boys did most of the work, I just topped it off. Drogheda's Josh Thomas with Aidan Kenna of St. Patrick's Athletic (Image: ©INPHO/Ben Brady) "I back myself against any defender, to be honest, especially when I'm in that position. It's what I've been doing since I was 10 years old. That's what a striker dreams of, just to get one chance in a game - I'm always like that and obviously, it couldn't have come in a better situation in a top of the table clash." The hard-earned victory in Phibsboro moved fourth-placed Drogheda to within a point of Bohs in the bunch chasing pace-setters Shamrock Rovers. It was also a morale-booster for the side after European football was snatched from them due to multiclub rules. Instead of enjoying Conference League action after their FAI Cup success, they went to Cambrils in Spain for an eight-day training camp. "Obviously we trained really hard all week," Thomas said. "I think it was harder than we all expected it to be. It wasn't a holiday like everyone was saying it was but it was tough. We had a good night towards the end of the week and came back with all the morale really high, so yeah, it was good." The disappointment of missing that European experience may fuel Drogheda's push to qualify again, this time through the league. "I think when something gets taken away from you that's not your fault, it gives you more momentum to show people why we were here in the first place," said the striker. "I know towards the end of last season they really turned around their form and then obviously we've taken it into this season as well. And I think on paper we can go head-to-head with anyone in the league when we're on it." Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email .
