FRANKEL COLOURS IN FRONT AGAIN
The green, pink and white colours of Khalid Abdulla, so memorably carried to victory by Frankel in Wednesday’s QIPCO Sussex Stakes, were back in front again aboard Labarinto in the opening Betfred The Bonus King Handicap.
Ryan Moore steered the well-backed winner to a three-quarters of a length victory and Abdulla’s racing manager, Teddy Grimthorpe, is hoping the colt is still on the upgrade.
“He’s been an improving horse and come on well. It looked like he needed the run a bit at Newmarket last time, he got a little bit tired there in the closing stages,” said Grimthorpe.
“Ryan had to weave his way through but he got there in the end, once he got clear he kicked on well. I would think nine to 10 furlongs would be the best trip for him, Ryan certainly seemed to think so.
“We’ll see what the handicapper does to see where he goes but I hope he’s still progressing and you always hope they might eventually step up to Listed or Group class.”
Ryan Moore added: “He is a nice little horse and the race worked out pretty smoothly for him. He deserved to win a nice race. He just got squeezed out coming out of the stalls, which I didn’t need, and I was further back that I would have like to him been. As the gaps came, he had enough foot to take them and he picked up well in the last furlong. Goodwood is one the best tracks in the country and it is always nice to be here.”
Grimthorpe reported that Frankel had travelled back well last night after his brilliant five-length success.
“He was absolutely fine this morning, there were no problems,” said Grimthorpe. “Our initial reaction was that he’ll probably go for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Champions’ Day next but we will see how the horse has come out of the race. It will be up to the horse to tell us.
“Prince Khalid would obviously love to win his race, the Juddmonte International, at York but it is only three weeks away and might just come a bit too soon.
“He’s going to stay in training next season and I’d think we might look at the Breeders’ Cup at the end of next year, it would be unlikely this season. Champions’ Day is on October 15 so that’s a long time since he started off in the Greenham at Newbury in April. It would be asking a lot to go to America after Champions’ Day. We’ve got to prove him a champion in this country this year.
“The horse has grown in the public’s admiration and it is great that racing has got something like that to hang on to. Prince Khalid absolutely loved it yesterday and had a great day.”
Audi King George Stakes
NUNTHORPE FOR AUDI KING GEORGE WINNER MASAMAH
A scintillating win by sprinter Masamah in the £85,000 Audi King George Stakes has teed up an attempt on the Group 1 Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes at York next month.
Yet trainer Kevin Ryan is also considering running the five-year-old gelding over six furlongs in September’s Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock Park before dropping back to five furlongs for Longchamp’s Prix de l’Abbaye.
Ryan, who trains Masamah for Dr Marwan Koukash, said: “We knew he was a good horse last year and he did really well over the winter having trained well through the autumn. Obviously, he’s gone from strength to strength and is very easy to train.
“I was a little worried about running him downhill here because he has so much natural speed and I thought a flatter track would suit better. Horses often love or loathe Goodwood, but he’s done it well.”
Of Koukash, Ryan said: “Marwan’s not been in the game a long time, but he’s fresh blood and that’s always good, especially in this period of time. He’s put a lot of money in and he understands some of the problems we experience when training horses.”
Koukash was equally generous in commenting on Ryan, saying: “The secret of success in this sport, when you come in as a novice or someone who knows nothing about it, is to be associated with people you can trust, and Kevin is one of those people. I met him three years ago and we’ve had fun since.”
Koukash added: “This is my first Group 2 winner in England, although we’ve won one or two overseas. Kevin and I have had some good winners this year - we’ve changed things around and it has worked out. This is my 56th winner of the year, and there have been some good ones among them in heritage handicaps and races like the Bunbury Cup. I enjoy the sport as much as ever if not more.”
Ryan said: “I don’t know how high this horse might go. I can’t see a problem with him staying six furlongs in the Sprint Cup. He’s very simple and doesn’t have to make the running. He can drop in. It will be Nunthorpe, then possibly the Sprint Cup then the Abbaye.”
AMOUR CEDES TO MASAMAH AGAIN
Amour Propre found only Masamah his superior for the second race in succession as he finished a gallant second.
Trainer Henry Candy was pleased with his charge who has overcome health issues to return with two runner-up efforts this term, having also been second behind Masamah at York on July 11.
Candy said of the 6/1 shot: “It was a replay of York and the other horse is better, quite simply.
“Amour Propre ran a wonderful race and to come back from what he has been through to run two good races is a miracle, I think. He bled badly for a long time and nothing was helping him so I had to revert to nature. I stuck him out in a field day and night for six months, basically.
“I didn’t put him in the Nunthorpe Stakes because I thought it would be asking a miracle and I don’t regret it. If he’s still going strongly we might run him in the Prix de l’Abbaye but he does want top of the ground. It’s quite rare for Longchamp to have top of the ground at that stage of the season.”
Artemis Goodwood Cup
TOE NO HINDRANCE AS DETTORI FORCES OPINION
Godolphin’s second string Lost In The Moment, trained by Saeed bin Suroor, failed by a head to defeat the same owner’s Opinion Poll, from Mahmood Al Zarooni’s stable, when flying at the finish of the Artemis Goodwood Cup.
Frankie Dettori’s fractured toe prevented the crowd favourite from performing a trademark flying dismount but failed to hinder his capacity in the saddle as he drove the Mahmood Al Zarooni-trained Opinion Poll to victory in the Group Two contest.
Godolphin’s number one rider pointed to his toe, bruised and swollen as a result of the hairline fracture suffered in his fall from Rewilding at Ascot on Saturday, and apologised to the expectant crowd gathered around the winner’s enclosure before sliding carefully out of the saddle.
Asked if he would have taken this week off to recuperate had it not been Glorious Goodwood, he replied: “Most definitely.”
The Italian rode a patient race in the two-mile contest aboard the 9/2 favourite, runner-up in the Ascot Gold Cup on his previous start, as Overturn opened up a wide lead from the turn into the straight. Opinion Poll gradually wore down that rival and kept the rest of the pursuing pack at bay to score by a head from another Godolphin horse, the Saeed bin Suroor-trained Lost In The Moment.
Dettori continued: “He is an honest horse, who never runs a bad race. He was second in the Gold Cup and I think the ground was fairly quick enough for him but he has a lot of courage and is a very hard horse to pass.
“We went very fast and this horse is quite lazy, so I couldn’t take the chance of going through them, so I took him on the outside and got him going in plenty of time. As it happened, I was there plenty early enough and he started to put the brakes on a bit but luckily the line was just there for me.”
Al Zarooni said: “I like Goodwood, it is one of England’s most famous racecourses so I am very happy to win a race here and I am very happy for the team that we have won a Group Two cup race.
“Frankie said to me, ‘I will win the race, I know the horse very well and he will stay’. Frankie is always good in the big races, even when he is injured. He did brilliant, he was very patient. We have a good horse and a good jockey, with that you can win the race.
“He is a tough horse and he always does his best. Frankie gave him a nice relaxed time in the beginning of the race and he came through in the end.
“The Melbourne Cup is an idea but I will have to go back to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed and racing manager Simon Crisford because they know more about the races in England and what will be suitable for him - I am inexperienced.
“His Highness is very smart so he decides to put in two trainers and the results are good for Godolphin. To me, it doesn’t matter if I win or Saeed (bin Suroor) wins, I want Godolphin to win races.”
Simon Crisford, Godolphin racing manager, said: “I think that it was a fantastic race. Opinion Poll has got plenty of class but we were slightly worried that the ground might be a bit too quick for him. He has got a lot of class and finished off the race really well.
“Lost In The Moment came from a long way back and we told William to ride him cold and come through tired and beaten horses, which he did. He was a bit unlucky with his trip but I think that we have two lovely stayers and two really good horses for the European campaign.
“His Highness Sheikh Mohammed is committed equally to both stables and it has worked out really well. There is a lot of friendly rivalry between the two stables.
“All credit to Frankie. He has a small hairline fracture in his toe but it is not preventing him from riding every bit as well as he can. He would have hated to miss Goodwood - we all love Glorious Goodwood - so he did everything he could to get back.
“Opinion will stick to this trip and we will have a look at the big feature races but, when we get to the autumn with the soft ground, I would imagine that the two-mile race at Ascot on Champions’ Day will be his aim. It’s a valuable contest and he is likely to get his ground.
I-SHARES FILLIES’ STAKES (GROUP 3)
MEEZNAH AT THE DOUBLE FOR DETTORI
Meeznah completed a 37.5/1 double for jockey Frankie Dettori when giving trainer David Lanigan the biggest success of his career so far in the Group Three i-Share Fillies’ Stakes.
The four-year-old finished second to Snow Fairy in last year’s Oaks at Epsom but was subsequently disqualified for testing positive for a banned substance and this was the first Group victory of her career.
“Frankie rode her today because the owners are friends of Sheikh Mohammed, who retains him, but Ted Durcan deserves a lot of the credit for the work he has done with this filly at home,” said Lanigan.
“She’s very difficult to get fit at home and her home work has got worse from three to four. I took her to Yarmouth last week for a racecourse gallop to wake her up. If you saw her working at home, you wouldn’t back her for a selling plate.
“I was shocked when I saw what price she was this morning because she hated the ground last time, so you could forget that and I’d have been very disappointed if she’d not been thereabouts. That was her true performance today.
“She’s in all sorts of races, including something at Deauville and the Irish St Leger, but I’d think the Park Hill Stakes at Doncaster would be right up her street.”
Dettori, who also won the Artemis Goodwood Cup on Opinion Poll, is still suffering the after effects of a fall at Ascot on Saturday.
“I couldn’t kick a football at the moment and I’m in quite a bit of discomfort,” said the jockey. “I’m taking a lot of painkillers but when you ride winners the pain goes away.
The race was won in a course record of 2 minutes 57.61 seconds and Dettori added: “We did go fast and it was a bit like the Tour de France. When one horse dropped out, another took on the running so there was a strong pace throughout the race.”
SHANKARDEH DEFIES MARKET DRIFT TO TAKE SECOND
French raider Shankardeh went for a walk in betting on the I-Share Fillies’ Stakes, touching 13/2 from 9/2, but she ran a fine race to take second behind Meeznah.
Shankardeh, who was ridden by Christophe Lemaire, is trained by Makfi’s trainer, Mikael Delzangles, who said: “I’m very pleased with, and while she was beaten by a better filly today she ran a fine race and was very courageous.
“She didn’t handle the first turn very well, which wasn’t a big surprise, but she stayed on very well. She has a big heart.
“She could run next in any kind of race over a mile and a half. The Park Hill Stakes at Doncaster is a possibility, but she also has engagements at Deauville too.”
Motrice finished third in this race last year for owner Kirsten Rausing, and she repeated that today under jockey Seb Sanders. Trainer Sir Mark Prescott said: “I thought she ran a really good race over a trip that is probably too short for her, but they went a tremendous gallop which helped.
“We’re pleased, but we would have liked to have won. Miss Rausing just wants to get that big black type, which means winning, not just being placed in a Group race, so I think she may have to go to Germany or somewhere like that. Otherwise she could run in the Doncaster Cup once more.”
EBF Medicean New Ham Maiden Fillies’ Stakes
GIRL LOOKS GIFTED AFTER EASY MAIDEN VICTORY
Oxfordshire trainer Paul Cole ran two fillies in this contest for two-year-old maidens, and saw them finish first and fourth, with Gifted Girl taking the number one spot, and Swingland just out of the places.
A well-bred daughter of stallion Azamour out of a half-sister to Irish Oaks victress Margarula, Gifted Girl cost owner Alan Spence 68,000gns at the sales - and that is looking money well spent after she ran out a four-length winner under jockey Neil Callan.
Gifted Girl was third at Newbury on her first start, and Cole said: “On that occasion the race wasn’t run to suit - he [Callan] didn’t make any mistakes today and let her use her stride. It’s a bit quick to make decisions, but the Fillies’ Mile [run this year at Newmarket] is the logical race for her. She’s big and has a long stride, so we don’t want to overdo her at two, but that would be the obvious target.
“At the sales [when a yearling] she looked a bit angular, but she’s grown into her shape and is now a very attractive filly. She should go on because she’s bred to be a three-year-old.
“Swingland had a good draw, but was shuffled to the outside. She’s a nice filly from a good family.”
Owners come and go in racing, and Cole was relaxed when asked about the recent decision of Jim and Fitri Hay to remove their horses from his stables. He said: “The face of racing changes all the time. You just have to get your head down and get on with things.
“Everybody at the yard makes up a good team and we have a good set-up. We’re looking forward to next year.”
SILK IS ON THE RIGHT ROAD
Amber Silk is one for the notebook after the Barry Hills-trained debutant picked up nicely in the final furlong to clinch the runner-up spot.
The Lawman filly, sent off a 20/1 shot, settled towards the rear before creeping up the rail and quickened well once switched out approaching the final furlong to challenge under Michael Hills. Amber Silk finished four lengths behind the runaway winner, Gifted Girl.
Charlie Hills, assistant trainer to his father, said: “We just wanted her to find her feet and ride her to come home and she came home nicely. Hopefully she didn’t have too hard a race. We will probably give her a bit of time now and just let her strengthen up, she should get a mile in future.
“She’s closely related to High Heeled and she looks very similar to her actually, so she hopefully she will get further. She has a good temperament and certainly I would have thought we will step her over a mile next year.”
Tatler Handicap
HUGHES GIVES RIVALS A CASUAL GLIMPSE
Casual Glimpse may have found Pattern races beyond him but the drop back to handicap grade proved the right move as the Richard Hannon-trained three-year-old swept to victory in the Tatler Handicap.
Runner-up to Bridgefield in a mile conditions race at Newmarket on July 7, having contested Group races previously, Casual Glimpse relished the seven-furlong trip here and cruised to the two-furlong pole on the bridle under a confident Richard Hughes. Switched off the rail to challenge with over a furlong remaining, the Compton Place colt quickened past rivals to land the spoils by a neck from Dimension.
It was a first success for Casual Glimpse’s new Qatari owner Mohammed Al-Attiyah, who purchased the colt for 83,000 guineas at the recent Tattersalls July Sale.
Richard Hannon jr, assistant trainer to his father, said: “I’m not sure he’s improved, he’s coming down to a handicap and this is more his grade. He’s come down gradually in the weights all year.
“He was sold at Tattersalls three weeks ago and we sold him very well. He has come back and won a nice handicap for his new connections so we’re very pleased. He is a new owner and we have only met him once. He bought him at the sales and said would you like to train him and we said of course we would.
“He’s always been a nice horse but probably not quite as good as we hoped. He is back to good form now and this is more his level. He’s a very good handicapper.”
Asked about the well-timed ride Hughes appeared to give his mount, Hannon continued: “I think it was more luck than judgement! He never really looked like getting beaten in the race but if he had got beaten he would have been an unlucky loser. The gaps came - Hughesie gave him a great ride, he rides this course great. He was hemmed in at probably the best point but came home well.
Hughes extended his lead at the top of the RUK Leading Jockey competition with four wins, one more than Frankie Dettori.
betfred.com HANDICAP
KINYRAS CONTINUES FAMILY TRADITION
It may not have been the highest-profile race of the week at Glorious Goodwood, but the betfred.com Handicap, which closed day three, produced a stunning finish involving jockeys Ryan Moore and Dane O’Neill.
Moore’s mount Kinyras, trained by Sir Michael Stoute, prevailed by a nose from Aldwick Bay, although the actual distance was probably thinner than gossamer.
In doing this, trainer Sir Michael Stoute and jockey Ryan Moore completed a 24/1 first and last race double win.
The victory was particularly satisfying for veteran owner breeder Athos Christodoulou.
“I didn’t know if he had held on in the photo but I’m delighted,” said Christodoulou, who has campaigned such stars as Ile De Chypre and Posidonas.
“He’s the fourth generation of the family I have had and it goes back to Salamina, who was born in 1978, so it’s great for him to win today.”
ALDWICK HELD AT BAY BY A NOSE
“It looks like a dead-heat to me,” said Aldwick Bay’s trainer, Richard Hannon, who also ran the unplaced favourite, Reflect, the mount of Richard Hughes.
Hannon added of Aldwick Bay: “Whatever the result he’s run a super race. He came from a long way back and did it well, but just couldn’t do more. He likes Goodwood - we’re delighted, although we’d rather be in the winner’s spot.”
Eve Johnson-Houghton saddled third-placed Amistress, and she said: “She’s called Amistress, but she’s not a madam. She’s so tough and look at the size of her - she’s a rabbit, but she gives her all every time.
“And she’s still improving. We may go to Brighton for a mile and a half race there next week because they are bound to put her up the handicap so we might as well run again.”