Glorious Goodwood day one: Scandinavia retains title in dramatic Goodwood Cup... Lake Forest lands Lennox
The wait is over – the racing has begun. And Glorious Goodwood began with a superb display from Scandinavia to win the Goodwood Cup for a second year in a row.
The 6/5 favourite extended his winning sequence to seven in an eventful edition of the Group 1 Al Shaqab-sponsored race as the Qatar Goodwood Festival began in warm sunshine that looks set to last all week.
Aidan O’Brien’s staying superstar followed up his win from the same race 12 months ago and victory in last month’s Gold Cup at Royal Ascot – but the contest had a dramatic start, and not the tense finish seen at the royal meeting.
Almost as soon as the stalls opened, Hector Crouch came off Amiloc, which impacted the two-mile contest later on as the loose horse impeded the run of Trawlerman in the straight.
Scandinavia had moved upsides Trawlerman when the incident occurred, passing the three-furlong pole and subsequently powered away under Ryan Moore to cross the line eight and a half lengths in front.
Trawlerman (13/8) boxed on to finish second behind the O’Brien-trained winner, with Yorkshire Cup victor Rahiebb (14/1) three-quarters of a length further back in third.
O’Brien said: “Scandinavia is a great horse, a real, real top stayer. He has a big cruising speed and relaxes when he finds his rhythm. Ryan said that the minute he started asking, he felt him coming alive underneath him.
“We felt he was really going the right way after Ascot. The Goodwood Cup is a great race to win, very prestigious, and it is great that Trawlerman came and all the horses were there. It is what we always want to see – win, lose or draw.
"The plan was that we thought Trawlerman would make the running, and we were hoping he would. Ryan was just going to follow him, like he did at Ascot. It was going to be very simple whether he was going to be good enough or not.
"That is what we thought and that is the way it played out. There was a little bit of drama. I think Trawlerman was a little slowly away and there was a loose horse. It was one of those eventful races.
"It was great though, Goodwood is a great track, and I think it was a great spectacle to watch. There was so much happening in a race like that and, over two miles, you get a great chance to look at it and take it all in."
Goodwood race-goers love a returning champion – especially in the Goodwood Cup – and will hope Scandinavia comes back to make it a three in a row next year, and perhaps even bid to emulate four-time winner of the race Stradivarius.
Asked at what point he will know how many seasons he can campaign a horse like Scandinavia, O'Brien added: "He is very sound, he loves what he is doing, and I think the lads love having a horse like that.
"When you get a horse who can race year in, year out, with the ability he has, that is what makes it very special. They are very hard to find, nearly impossible, but when they come along the lads love it, and I would imagine he will race for as long as he is able to stay safe and sound."
Asked whether the horse could emulate Yeats, a past staying star from the same yard, he said: "I think he could. He is a very high cruiser, very natural, easy to train, has a great rhythm and loves what he does. He has a great mind. He is by Justify, so he has that big rhythm.”
Winning jockey Moore said: “I was just talking to Aidan and he said it is probably as good a staying performance as he has ever seen. I never asked him for everything either. It was nice for him to have a horse to follow all the way – he probably thinks he got beat! He is a very good horse.
“He has an unbelievable race record now. His stride never shortened, he just kept galloping all the way to the line. What more can you say? He could not have done any more than he did today. He likes fast ground, is a high-class horse and hopefully there are a few more good days to come."
The going for day one of the Qatar Goodwood Festival was good, good to firm in places. And there is a dry and settled outlook of 25-29C for the week, though it will probably get cooler at the end of the week – something many, the horses included, won’t mind.
ITV Racing opened their coverage of the week, fronted by Ed Chamberlin and Francesca Cumani, by describing Glorious at the Rolls Royce of race meetings – noting that the racecourse was just up the road from the world-famous car manufacturer’ base.
Hayley Turner is on the ITV panel for the week and told viewers it was one of the best places to watch racing – but was one of the hardest courses for jockeys to ride. She would know, having ridden her share of races on the Downs and at one time being an ambassador for Goodwood.
Director of racing Ed Arkell said before the opening race the grounds team had worked incredibly hard to get the track in order despite no rain for weeks.
And there was early praise for the ground from William Buick, who won the opener – the Coral Chesterfield Cup Handicap – on Al Aali (11-2 joint favourite) for trainer George Scott.
Buick told ITV Racing: “It’s beautiful ground. I don’t think Ed and his team could have done better.”
Buick, a consistent performer here for many years; made a perfect start to the festival as he guided Al Aali to victory in the 10-furlong contest. Buick sat quietly on the four-year-old, who had plenty of racing room after the 17 runners fanned out at the cutaway.
Al Aali picked up strongly to collar long-time leader Noble Horizon (13/2) and win comfortably by three-quarters of a length, making it two wins from two starts since the application of blinkers. The consistent Night Breeze (14/1) added another placing to his CV in third, while Tony Montana (18/1) came from the back of the field to take fourth.
Scott said: “It has taken a little bit of time to get to know Al Aali and the inside draw [3] really suited him. William just crept away and kept improving his position. It was a good watch – we have had a couple of mishaps in the last few days, so it was nice that it all went our way.
"Since we have had Al Aali, we have just struggled to understand him and, in the last few weeks, we have changed a few things around. Credit to everyone at home for freshening him up. He has spent a lot of time in the paddock, came back in great form and took a lot of confidence from last time out.
"Horses like to be out grazing; they are herd animals, so if you get the opportunity to let them out, they normally thrive. He just goes out, puts his head down and grazes for three hours. He is happy.
“He is a horse that Sheikh Nasser actually picked himself at the Arc Sale last year. We thought we'd slightly overpaid and he has got some way to go to repay us, but that was a big step forward.”
Jockey Kaiya Fraser celebrated his first Group-race success following an audacious ride on Dr Rascal (13/2) in the G2 Coral Vintage Stakes over seven furlongs.
Fraser spied the brave man’s route along the rail approaching the final furlong and, despite briefly losing some momentum, the Sottsass colt found plenty to hold off Haffner (4/1) by half a length and make it three wins from as many starts. The 5/4 favourite Al Hudaiba was a short-head further back in third.
It was also a first Group-race victory in his own right for trainer Oliver Cole, 20 years after his father Paul trained the last of his three winners of the Vintage Stakes.
Fraser said: “First of all, I want to thank the owners [Charlie Rosier and Julia Rosier] for putting me on and trusting me. I am very happy to get the job done for them. This means everything. This is what we wake up for every morning. I have put so much hard work in to get where I am today. I am grateful to all the people around me who have helped me, including my agent James Forrest, and all the owners and trainers who put me up. I would not be here if it was not for them.
Lake Forest (10/11F) overcame a steady early gallop and passed most of the field to land the Group 2 HKJC World Pool Lennox Stakes, setting up a potential tilt at Wednesday’s G1 Visit Qatar Sussex Stakes.
Having settled well in rear of the eight runners under Cieren Fallon, Lake Forest had plenty of ground to make up on last year’s winner Witness Stand entering the final two furlongs, but the five-year-old showed his class to pick up the leader and win comfortably by a neck.
Royal Hunt Cup winner Rogue Diplomat (16/1) also finished strongly from the rear to take second, with Witness Stand (17/2) three-quarters of a length further back in third.
Maureen Haggas, assistant to her husband William, said: “We thought there would be lots of pace and there was not, so I thought Lake Forest ran really well. He is a totally different horse since being gelded. It is extraordinary what difference that can make.
“He has always been a talented horse, but you could never have called him consistent because he was absolutely brilliant one day, whereas the next day he just could not be bothered. It seems to have made him more consistent – and that is great.”
Twilight Calls (6/1) may have been the joint-oldest of 23 runners in the Coral Rewards Shaker Handicap but that did not stop the eight-year-old capturing the five-furlong cavalry charge under a well-timed ride from Saffie Osborne.
Twilight Calls, who made his move nearest the stands’ side, got up in the final strides to deny Naana's Sparkle (8/1) by a head. Glamorous Breeze (12/1), the other eight-year-old in the field, was a half-length further back in third, with Democracy Dilemma (22/1) and Toca Madera (11/1) filling the minor places.
Agrippa (11/1) was a snug winner of the six-furlong British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Stakes for Richard Hannon, despite receiving a bump from eventual runner-up Dorigo (12/1) close home.
Beaten a neck on his previous start at Newbury, Agrippa was coaxed into contention by Pat Dobbs and finished best to edge ahead and score by a head. Launch Sequence (5/2) was third as the front pair pulled a length and a half clear.
Rumba Numba (17/2) provided trainer Roger Varian with back-to-back wins in the Bolney English Wine Fillies’ Handicap, following up the success of Protest last year.
Owned and bred by Apple Tree Stud, Rumba Numba managed to get across from the widest draw in 14, enabling her to sit prominently and tap into her confirmed stamina for the mile distance.
Lightly raced sprinter Sing The Blues (7/1) finished off powerfully to land the concluding World Pool Bet With The tote EBF Fillies' Handicap and provide jockey Cieren Fallon with two winners on the day.
The 6,000 guineas purchase has now won both starts since joining trainer Martin Dunne from William Haggas, with today’s success coming on the back of a 25/1 surprise at Newmarket earlier this month.
Catch up with some of our many Glorious lines in the links below.
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