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Notable Speech silenced his critics with a scintillating performance to land the £1 million Gr.1 Qatar Sussex Stakes, the showpiece event of the Qatar Goodwood Festival.
The Charlie Appleby-trained colt, who had disappointed in the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, rekindled the brilliance that saw him capture the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket earlier this season, proving his Royal Ascot run was simply too bad to be true.
As Henry Longfellow and outsider Sonny Liston set the early pace, William Buick kept Notable Speech poised to strike. Once in the home straight, the Godolphin runner unleashed a devastating turn of foot, surging clear to score by a length and a half, leaving his rivals trailing in his wake.
Maljoom, trained by William Haggas, claimed second, with French raider Facteur Cheval a neck back in third for trainer Jerome Reynier. Henry Longfellow, who had trounced Notable Speech at Royal Ascot, could only manage fourth this time, leaving connections puzzled by the reversal of form.
Appleby, celebrating his 18th Qatar Goodwood Festival winner, said: "His preparation was faultless. He looked great, and pre-race we shaved a couple of kilos back off him again. I think he is just a horse who turned up with his A-game again."
The Newmarket handler added: "What I love about him is that he hasn't got great stride length, but he turns those legs over quick, and that's why you see that acceleration. You'll see plenty of horses in the morning that have great stride length and everyone will be very excited about it, but I like it when they turn them over quicker. It's normally a sign that they can quicken up."
Reflecting on the colt's development, Appleby noted: "Someone asked me yesterday, where was Notable Speech this time last year? I said he'd only just turned up in the yard and was probably doing one canter up our short canter of five furlongs, no more than that. Everyone who sat on him liked him, but he just wasn't strong enough to do what was expected of him at that time in his career."
Buick, celebrating his 40th Qatar Goodwood Festival winner, said: "Notable Speech was firing on all cylinders coming in here today. He was a brilliant Guineas winner, with a very rare turn of foot that you very rarely see, and we saw that again today."
The jockey added: "He is such an uncomplicated horse and takes everything in his stride. A horse with his ability and turn of foot is rare to see. He's a horse that really excites you and it's a real privilege to ride him."
Maureen Haggas, representing her husband William, said of runner-up Maljoom: "That was very good. Each run this year he's got better. I'd like to try him over a mile and a quarter. He's always slow away – you can't give these good horses ground, but he ran on very well. He is a beautiful horse, and I hope there's more to come."
Co-owner Michael Tabor offered little excuse for Henry Longfellow's disappointing run, saying: "The horse alongside him early in the race hustled him up and Ryan said he was never comfortable on this track. He has to be a lot better than that but only time will tell."
With this impressive victory, Notable Speech has firmly re-established himself as a top-class miler. Appleby hinted at potential future targets, including a possible trip to America: "Of course we'd love to go to America. He's learning week on week and maturing, so I wouldn't rule it out of the equation."
As the dust settles on another thrilling renewal of the Sussex Stakes, all eyes will be on Notable Speech's next move as he cements his place among the elite of his generation.