The race between Dawn Approach and Toronado

When The Flying Dutchman met Voltigeur in a match race at York in 1851 at least 100,000 spectators were reported to have turned up to see it. When Seabiscuit took on War Admiral, the previous year's Triple Crown winner, at Pimlico in 1938, the 40,000 crowd at the track was a tiny fraction of the 40m who tuned in to the radio commentary.

Match races are no longer a feature of racing on either side of the Atlantic, having fallen out of favour in the US since the brilliant filly Ruffian suffered a fatal injury in the early stages of a match at Belmont in 1975. Yet the simple, all-or-nothing appeal of an evenly balanced head-to-head can still have the power to fascinate and to sell tickets, too.

There will be more than two runners in the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood on Wednesday afternoon but the course is still eager to promote it as the "Duel on the Downs".

Some head-to-heads, like Seabiscuit versus War Admiral, are a long-delayed meeting between champions from different countries or generations. The race between Dawn Approach and Toronado at Goodwood is the other kind of head-to-head, the one with a score that needs to be settled.

Like Voltigeur and The Flying Dutchman, who had been first and second in the Doncaster Cup prior to their famous match the following year, the two market leaders in Wednesday's race have met before.

The first occasion was the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket in April, when Dawn Approach was an impressive winner and Toronado flopped in fourth. Then, in the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, Toronado was within a short-head of revenge after taking a bump in the home straight.

Richard Hughes, Toronado's jockey, is looking forward to the next meeting between the two colts more than anyone. "I've been thinking about it from the time I heard the result being called at [Royal] Ascot," Hughes said.

"I feel there is a bit [of a score to settle], I feel I was very unlucky at Ascot. I think an awful lot of the horse and I'd love him to show his true best. He weighs 530 kilos and he was driven sideways at the most crucial point of the race last time,shoes manufacturer so I think there's a good argument that I only have to find a little bit."

Dawn Approach – said by Jim Bolger, his trainer, on Saturday to be in "better than good form, mighty awesome form" – has lost only once in nine career starts, when he was last after starting favourite for the Derby in early June.

The Irish-trained runner is narrowly preferred in the ante-post market at a top price of 5-4, while Toronado is 13-8. Between them the pair take out nearly 85% of the market with Declaration Of War, the Queen Anne Stakes winner, their only serious rival at 5-1.

"I presume both of us [Hughes and Kevin Manning, Dawn Approach's jockey] would like a nice strong-run race so his horse and mine can settle," Hughes said. "I can't see there being more than five runners, so as long as it's a nice clean race I'll be happy and, if I get beaten, it will be fair and square.

"I enjoy Goodwood and I ride with confidence around there, I feel like I know how to do the right thing around there but that doesn't always mean you're getting all the luck. You need that on your side there now and again."

For Dawn Approach, victory would push his claim to be Europe's best three-year-old miler beyond the point of reasonable doubt. It would guarantee star status when he retires to join Sheikh Mohammed's Darley Stud breeding business, and revive the spirits of the Godolphin racing operation as it attempts to emerge from the shadow of a doping scandal. Yet in the space of two minutes Toronado could seize the kudos and establish his own claim to be the best around, because this meeting between the pair is the one that most racing fans are going to remember.

"It's very good for racing," Hughes says. "When they both loomed up in the Guineas at Newmarket, you could hear the roar go up from the stands, and that day I knew after going a furlong that I wouldn't win the Guineas. Hearing that roar is why we ride all the other horses, so that we can get on the good ones."

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