Glorious Goodwood: Day One Review & Day Two Preview
The track was rated good, with good to soft ground on a couple of pieces of the Sussex course. There was a horse was shooting for four-peat, and there was a juvenile that could be anything. Here’s what happened on Day One of Glorious Goodwood:
Al Shaqaab Goodwood Cup Stakes (Group 1, 2m)
You run out of superlatives to describe the great Stradivarius (Sea The Stars).
Just when you thought he could be vulnerable, he delivers in trademark style. As I described yesterday, he was coming into the race having to take on Irish Derby winning 3yo Santiago (War Front) who would have a 1st 1lb (7kg) weight advantage on the champion. He faced a huge challenge today.
But history did not repeat, we saw no mirror of what he himself had done to Big Orange (Duke Of Marmalade) three years ago.
The pace was not keen as Nayef Road (Galileo) was rolling along in front as he liked, being tracked in second by Santiago who enjoyed the run of the race.
Sitting in fourth was Stradivarius, biding his time on the rail under Frankie Dettori.
The pace still continued to be easy as they galloped along the ups and downs of the Goodwood track. Santiago was in a prime position.
There was no point in Dettori engaging in a 4f dual down the length of the straight with a horse he was conceding so much weight to, he had to wait.
There has been many a hard luck story down the stretch at Goodwood and when the gas pedal went down on the field, for a brief moment it looked like it may have claimed Stradivarius as one of its victims.
He was penned in on the rail, behind Santiago and being held in by Eagles By Day (Sea The Stars). Dettori pulled on his left reign, looking to thread a needle eye gap. All the while Nayef Road was galloping readily and Santiago had come to grab a share of the lead.
The gap finally split, courtesy of a piece of brilliant horsemanship we are so accustomed to from the Italian ex-pat hoop.
When he was clear he surpassed Santiago who had lost his share of the lead, he then powered past Nayef Road to gain his fourth successive Goodwood Cup.
In the modern day, you can now only put the great stayer Yeats (Sadlers Wells) up against him and have a decent debate as to who is better.
I highlighted his achievements after the Ascot Gold Cup, but it is worth doing it again. This is the brilliant record he has carved out in his career:
Group 2 Queens Vase, Ascot – 2017
Group 2 British Long Distance Cup, Ascot – 2018
Group 2 Doncaster Cup, Doncaster- 2019
Group 2 Yorkshire Cup, York – 2018, 2019
Group 2 Lonsdale Cup, York– 2018, 2019
Group 1 Goodwood Cup, Goodwood – 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup, Ascot – 2018, 2019, 2020
The trainer / jockey combination of John Gosden and Frankie Dettori is so natural and instinctive, they are a formidable team. Jumping from Enable to Stradavarius in the space of three days is what jockey’s dreams are made of.
It was revealed after the race that due to the £1million bonus for winning the Gold Cup, the Goodwood Cup and the Lonsdale Cup not being available this year, they are going to chose a different path for the 6yo entire.
He will sensationally be put on an Arc path. Enable vs Love vs Stradivarius - how mouth-watering is that?!
A word must go to a very, very good performance in second by a horse I highlighted yesterday. Sure, he had an easy lead, but Nayef Road was also conceding the same 1st 1lb (7kg) weight disadvantage to the 3yo Santiago. He was headed by that runner with 1f to travel, but fought back to outstay his feather-weighted rival. He has made the pace in his last two outings, but I’m not sure that is his natural role. Being able to sit off the pace and use his closing turn of foot at Flemington on the first Tuesday of November would be right up his street. He was being aimed at a trip down-under, but with the uncertainty now involved it is unclear as to whether he’ll be seen. That would be a real shame as he’s turned into a top class two-miler.
Veuve Cliquot Vintage Stakes (Group 2 2yo, 7f)
I highlighted yesterday the remarkable record that the Vintage Stakes has in producing horses that go on to great success. It has kick-started Breeders Cup Mile winners, 2000 Guineas winners, right through to Ascot Gold Cup winners. Across all distances, this race can be a brilliant pointer to the future.
Last year, champion 2yo Pinatubo (Sharmadal) won this race after having been successful in the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot and the same thing happened this year.
Battleground (War Front) was hugely impressive last time out and he backed that up today. A big brute of a juvenile, he is an extremely promising individual. Ryan Moore drew him out with 2f to run after having sat a little worse than midfield in the race, putting the field away with ease.
Battleground is a top class prospect. Photo: Racing Post
Beautifully bred, this colt is the first foal from the champion mare Found (Galileo). She was an outstanding £5million winning race mare who achieved Group 1 victories in the Arc de Triomphe and Breeders Cup Turf where she beat Derby winner Golden Horn (Cape Cross).
It is another example of how Coolmore are putting Galileo mares to the highly successful War Front, with the likes of US Navy Flag being just another of many examples of the resulting offspring.
Out of the 2yo’s we’ve seen this year, Battleground is the most impressive for mine. He is already a future-market favourite for next years 2000 Guineas - with his speed it looks a race he’d be very well suited to.
Qatar Lennox Stakes (Group 2, 7f)
With no Group 1 races at the 7f distance available in England, the Lennox is one of the premier races of this division on the calendar.
The honour roll in this race has Goldolphin blue splashed all over it and it continued this year with the horse we highlighted yesterday in Space Blues (Dubawi) taking out the contest in dominant fashion.
He was the class horse of the race having run minor placings to multiple Group 1 performers in Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) and Advertise (Showcasing) last season and off the back of his Group 3 victory last time out at Longchamp he carried on with his progressive rise.
The 6f looked too sharp for him in Dubai in the spring and a mile is probably beyond his best, so confining himself in and around the 7f trip looks like the method for him. Trainer Charlie Appleby has said that providing he gets home and pulls up in good condition, a second tilt in the Group 1 Larc Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville in France over 6 1/2f is the next target. It is in 10 days time so he’ll have to pull up well.
Home bred at Darley out of Goldolphin mare Miss Lucifer (Noverre), a Group 2 winner over 7f, he is a half brother to Group 2 UAE winning mare Shuruuq (Elusive Quality). It continues a long line of brilliant gallopers that super sire Dubawi has produced for his owners in blue.
The Handicaps
The first Handicap of the meeting was taken out in very impressive fashion when Maydanny (Dubawi) scored in the Unibet You’re On Goodwood Handicap (4yo +, 1m 2f). Leading from the front, former premiership winning jockey Silvestre de Sousa went for the gas peddle 2f out and distanced them by five-lengths. The handicapper looked to have done him a big favour in this as he raced well above his mark of 90. Superbly bred, this £1.35million yearling purchase is out of the Efisio mare Attraction, who has also produced top class group horse Elaqarm (Frankel) - a dual Group 2 and Group 3 winner who races of a mark of 120. This was trainer Mark Johnston’s 85th Glorious Goodwood success and sixth in this particular race - a wonderful trainer who produces tough horses. This is one to follow as he rises to Group company.
The second of the major Handicaps on Day One was the Qatar Handicap over the minimum 5f trip. This was made up of experienced campaigners who have once competed at Group level with a healthy mix of sprinters looking to progress themselves through the grades. It was the 6yo gelding Only Spoofing (Approve) who caused a boil-over of sorts to record his seventh win from 40 career starts. A solid performer for a number of seasons , his dam is a half-sister to a Grade 1 winner in America.
The race of the season so far presents itself to us on Day Two, we’ll look at the Group races on the card:
Qatar Sussex Stakes (Group 1, 1m)
The Sussex Stakes is one of the premier open mile events in Europe.
Originally formed in 1841 as a 6f event for 2yo’s, it became the most prestigious race at the Glorious meeting when changed to a 1m race for 3yo’s in 1878. It was opened to 4yo’s in 1960 and then to everyone in 1975.
Since the turn of the century, winners have included Giants Causeway (2000), Rock Of Gibraltar (2002), Soviet Song (2004), Proclamation (2005), Henrythenavigator (2008), Rip Van Winkle (2009), Canford Cliffs (2010), Kingman (2014) and The Gurkha (2016).
The only horse to have won the race on more than one occasion achieved a double in 2011 and 2012. It was no run-of-the-mill double, it was two trademark demolitions from one of the true greats of the sport from any generation.
Frankel - the King of the Sussex Stakes. Photo: Racing Post
When Frankel (Galileo) took his place as a 3yo in 2011, unbeaten in seven prior starts with a combined winning margin of 36-lengths and being rated 130, he would face the sternest test of his career. He was taking on the worlds highest rated miler Canford Cliffs (Tagula) who had won five Group 1 races on in a row. It was billed as the “Dual on the Downs” and the most anticipated match up in many years. Frankel lead all the way to destroy his champion rival by five-lengths and confirm himself as the best racehorse in the world. He was tied with Black Caviar on a rating of 130, but this performance saw him achieve a rating of 135.
He returned against just three rivals the following year and set about dismantling them by six-lengths, he would have only two more starts after that to finish with a record of 14 from 14.
Last years event was taken out by outstanding 3yo Too Darn Hot (Dubawi), in a performance which would see him subsequently retired to stud.
This year we have a sizzling edition of this historic race and the first real opportunity to line up the top 3yo’s over a mile against older opposition.
A brilliant winner of the 2000 Guineas, Kameko (Kittens Joy) is a serious racehorse. He was sent to the Derby, despite the mile-and-a-half being beyond his best distance. In running fourth in that bizzare race, he put in one of those performances that you see from a class horse performing beyond his preferred distance. He lost no admirers whatsoever. I’ve said before that he reminds me so much of his relative Roaring Lion and for that reason may perform to his optimum over a-mile-and-a-quarter, but he is sure to be in the finish here. He will hope that there will be a solid tempo in this race as stamina is his best attribute. This US$90,000 buy for Qatar Bloodstock at the Keeneland September yearling sales would be a deserved winner of this contest, but will need the speed to be on up front.
Unbeaten as a 2yo and then a very strong winner of the Irish 2000 Guineas, Siskin (First Defence) is another classy runner on serious upward trajectory. You can’t fault his form and professionalism thus far and I think he will relish the mile at Goodwood. He is a horse that looks to have speed and a mile would be his maxiumum distance, if it turns into a sit and sprint he’ll be hard to roll. Owned by Juddmonte and trained in Ireland by Ger Lyons, his potential against the very best is untapped and he ranks right up there as a leading contender.
Another horse with a blistering turn of foot is Mohaather, a 4yo son of Showcasing. After being the hard luck story when denied for a run in the Group 1 Queen Anne at Royal Ascot, he was a super impressive winner of the Summer Mile at the same course just over a fortnight ago. He has serious speed and looks like he could be a sprinter, jockey Jim Crowley has said he hasn’t had a feel of a horse like this in a long time - some plaudit from a vastly experienced hoop. Unlike many of his rivals, he is yet to be a Group 1 winner but he certainly does profile up as one. If the sprint comes on in the final stages he will take a power of stopping. He is my pick.
Circus Maxiumus (Galileo) seems to be somewhat underrated at 8/1 in the market, but not by me as I really like this 4yo entire and believe he will be going close as well. Fresh off the back of his third Group 1 success in the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot, this fella is a tough grinding miler who always does just enough to overcome his rivals. Like Kameko, he’ll need a solid tempo and if it is a grind to the finish he’ll have to be beaten from one that can match his determination. Always a key indicator when assessing Coolmore / Ballydoyle runners, this is the horse that Ryan Moore has chosen to ride. Superb chance given the right circumstances in the running.
Again, another you can hardly fault is Withcita (No Nay Never). He is big strapping colt and was strong in defeat to Kameko in the 2000 Guineas. He then went out and performed well on a soft track that didn’t entirely suit in the Group 1 St James’s Palace at Royal Ascot. It looks as though a mile is his maximum distance and is one that will appreciate a sprint to the line. Frankie Dettori doesn’t often ride for Aidan O’Brien, so when he does you have to be aware.
The third of the Coolmore / Ballydoyle runners is an interesting one in Vatican City (Galileo), who was my pick in the Derby. He was a really strong second to Siskin in the Irish 2000 Guineas in a run that suggested he’d appreciate further, but didn’t quite stay at a-mile-and-a-half at Epsom. Superbly bred, all of his siblings are by Galileo and they are all Group winners. That includes Gleneagles (Irish and English 2000 Guineas) and Marvellous (Irish 1000 Guineas). The dam You’resothrilling (Storm Cat) is a full sister to Giant’s Causeway. A classic Coolmore family there.
There are seven runners and you can make a solid case for six of them, whoever wins will be crowned a very serious racehorse. I can’t wait!
Markel Insurance Molecomb Stakes (Group 3 2yo, 5f)
The Molcoob Stakes gives the 2yo’s an opportunity to gain Group success over the minimum distance.
A race that has been in existence since 1829, it doesn’t have a tremendous history for throwing up a type that goes on to greatness.
A notable winner however was Fleeting Spirit (Invincible Spirit) in 2006. She would go on to finish third in the Diamond Jubilee the year after at Royal Ascot - beaten only by Equiano and Takeover Target. The following year she would win the Group 1 July Cup - beating rivals such as Australians Takeover Target and Scenic Blast. She was the champion European Sprinter of 2009.
This year as you would expect is very open, with relatively untried horses who have all competed in Maiden and grade races. The form therefore is hard to line up.
Significantly (Garswood) is the market fancy, off the back of three second placings.
An interesting runner is Chief Little Hawk (Air Force Blue) for Coolmore, an American bred colt. He has had four starts, recording one win.
I like Night On Earth (Kodiac) for Andrew Balding and Oisin Murphy. I thought his last start victory was a good performance and at at 12/1 represents good value.
A lot more will be known after the running of this one!