No reason to think appalling weather forecast will cause Paddington express to be derailed
It's hard to avoid puns when you're dealing with a horse named Paddington, so it's all aboard for the latest stop in what is proving to be a busy but brilliant ride.
It bears repeating but none of this was expected to happen, certainly not based on how the star of this Goodwood show started his season. A horse who kicks off his second campaign in handicap company tends not then to devour Group 1 races at remarkable speed. That, however, is what Paddington has done, and to such stunning effect that he now tackles the Qatar Sussex Stakes as long odds-on favourite and perhaps also as the leading member of Coolmore's latest three-year-old team.
Following Auguste Rodin's second flop of the season in Saturday's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the importance of Paddington to his connections is arguably greater than ever. Already in the locker are victories in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, St James's Palace Stakes and Eclipse. He is a colt who could do almost anything and go almost anywhere, maybe even to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, for which most bookmakers now quote him at a shorter price than his dual Derby-winning stable companion. Paddington is a star whose value in all ways keeps rising.
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