Third Goodwood Cup For Stradivarius

There were fifty shades of grey in the leaden skies above Goodwood on Tuesday, but despite the gloom Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) put the “Glorious” back into the fixture that once held that title with a third G1 Qatar Goodwood Cup. Greeted by the rain and damp as he had been in that tension-filled Thursday of Royal Ascot, Bjorn Nielsen's indomitable chestnut was unperturbed by potentially character-testing conditions to once again demonstrate that he has simply forgotten how to lose. Frankie was in irresistible mood following Saturday's glorious sun-drenched afternoon at Ascot and with the preceding wet and blustery weather relenting for the big race he delivered his latest masterpiece on the 4-5 favourite. Settled in mid-division many lengths off the lone leader Wells Farhh Go (Ire) (Farhh {GB}), he let it all play out in front of him and after being cajoled to the front with 1 1/2 furlongs remaining readily asserted in that customary comfortable manner. Looking after himself as the line approached with Frankie saluting the victory, the homebred who was equalling the feat of the similarly-loved Double Trigger (Ire) (Ela-Mana-Mou {Ire}) in the nineties allowed Dee Ex Bee (GB) (Farhh {GB}) to narrow the margin of another cosy success to a neck. Cross Counter (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) was 1 3/4 lengths back in third as the class trio drew seven lengths clear. “He's a push-button ride, a stayer with a turn of foot who follows any pace and always has everything covered,” Frankie said after recording a remarkable 10th group win in two months. “He's got that burst, but then thinks he's done enough. The pace was very strong and I had the perfect race. I just put him there and he puts his head in front. He knows he's good.”

Up to any task handed to him, arguably Britain's most popular flat horse in training was facing one of his greatest here after silencing some more doubters with his relatively straightforward success given the ease in the ground in the June 20 G1 Gold Cup. There was talk of how Godolphin's G1 Melbourne Cup hero, who broke the mile-and-a-half track record in the G3 Gordon S. at this meeting 12 months ago, would be ridden more forward this time with that outing at Royal Ascot to sharpen him. There were also bullish noises from the Mark Johnston camp about the Gold Cup runner-up Dee Ex Bee, while the 3-year-olds including two Royal Ascot winners were getting a huge 15 pounds weight-for-age allowance. Added to that, the latest of the random summer storms to hit one of Britain's showcase festivals complicated the situation with Stradivarius still widely-held to be a fast-ground performer.

In the race, the jangling nerves connections must suffer every time their beloved star steps out into action were exacerbated by the fact that David Allan sent Wells Farhh Go into a sizeable lead from the outset as he had when surprising his rivals in last year's G3 Bahrain Trophy. Frankie was exposed for a while, but as the exuberant front-runner went off screen for a moment he had found the ideal lead horse in Cross Counter with the G2 Queen's Vase winner Dashing Willoughby (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and Dee Ex Bee just ahead. For a few furlongs, there was a sense among the watchers that we could witness another “Sovereign” moment as the long-striding Wells Farhh Go curbed his enthusiasm enough to enjoy a breather but messrs Murphy, de Sousa, Doyle and Dettori know race-tempo well enough not to hurry into premature action.

Turning into the straight, Dee Ex Bee was being asked the question and was responding with his usual languid manner while Cross Counter was comfortable enough despite having the division's number one directly on his tail. Heading to two out, Wells Farhh Go was a spent force and Dashing Willoughby gave way to Dee Ex Bee and Cross Counter before Stradivarius presented his party-piece dynamic split to jump on them both. As the winning jockey's celebrations were already underway, Dee Ex Bee got going again to suggest four miles would be fine but it seems that while the Gosden luminary is around and sound there will never be a trip far enough to get his nemesis out of his comfort zone.

Nielsen had some bad news for connections of Dee Ex Bee and just about every other trainer with a stayer of group class, but welcome for everyone else afterwards. “While he's enthusiastic and healthy, there are no plans to retire him,” he declared. “It depends what happens throughout the rest of this year. He is such a cool horse and mentally so relaxed–walking around the paddock beforehand, it was almost as if he was saying, 'what, we've got to do this again?' and I think that's why he's as good as he is. That and having an unbelievable trainer and a brilliant jockey. He has a great will-to-win and doesn't expend any unnecessary energy, but it gets more nerve-wracking for us as he goes on. We are starting to realise that he is becoming historic and last night I must have checked the weather forecast about 100 times. A horse like him comes along for a very few people and I'm very lucky. This was a very good field with the three-year-olds getting a lot of weight, so you worry about everything but he had a perfect position and just sat there and picked them off.”

Gosden was pointing at the Aug. 23 G2 Lonsdale Cup at York as the last part of an incredible second Weatherbys Hamilton Stayers' Million for Stradivarius, but he was taking nothing for granted. “The Lonsdale is probably next, but that was a struggle last year and he has to give weight away with the group 1 penalty,” he said. “To that extent, it's a tall order but this little–or should I say 'neat'–horse is in great order. They were very brave to let a very good horse like Wells Farhh Go take 25 lengths out of the field and although it was terrifying Frankie rode coolly and nobody panicked. Frankie used Cross Counter as a target and then our hero jockey started waving to the crowd prematurely, which gave me a couple of palpitations! He put the brakes on and it was lucky Frankie didn't go over the handlebars. He knows how to win and we never overwork him at home. He's a grand horse and it's wonderful to have a horse like this. The owner-breeder feels that horses like this are totally unique and feels he's a horse that could do something unbelievable. These stayers become national hunt stallions and although that is important, it isn't as much as the flat. We need horses of this nature and when we get them we must treasure them.”

Mark Johnston, who trained Double Trigger, said of Dee Ex Bee, “We were a bit closer to Stradivarius this time, partly because Frankie dropped his hands. Wells Farhh Go did nothing for us, he was too far in front, but the other horse [Cross Counter] worked well for us. But then there is that little bit where he hits the front and he definitely idles a little bit. It doesn't have to be much at this level to give it away. The [Oct. 5 G1] Prix du Cadran [at ParisLongchamp] and the [Sept. 13 G2] Doncaster Cup are probably the next ones for him. That is not shirking Stradivarius, but the chances are he won't meet Stradivarius in those. Whether he stays in training next year will be up to the owners. I think it would be surprising if he didn't.”

Cross Counter has other prizes to aim at, with trainer Charlie Appleby eyeing a repeat in the Nov. 5 G1 Melbourne Cup. “I am pleased because, at the end of the day, when you go out there and try and beat Stradivarius you know you are punching high,” he said. “Cross Counter has gone and run a very creditable race–when he travelled into contention from the three-furlong marker to the two, I thought we were in the right position to be able to serve it up to Stradivarius, but he is just too good. It was a great race to watch and great for racing. We always had it in the back of our minds that we could hopefully go back to the Melbourne Cup with him and that is still firmly there. We will see how he comes out of this race and we might take in the [G1] Irish St Leger [at The Curragh Sept. 15] before returning to Melbourne. He has strengthened this year. He was a well-handicapped horse when winning last year's Melbourne Cup.”

Stradivarius is the last living foal out of the dual listed-placed Private Life (Fr) (Bering), whose three other black-type performers include the G3 Furstenberg-Rennen and G3 Bavarian Classic winner Persian Storm (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}). The family features the high-class G1 Melbourne Cup hero and sire Protectionist (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}), the brilliant G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and G1 Prix du Jockey Club hero and leading sire Peintre Celebre (Nureyev) and Stradivarius's third dam Pawneese (Ire) (Carvin II), the Epsom Oaks, Prix de Diane and King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S.-winning champion.

Tuesday, Goodwood, Britain
QATAR GOODWOOD CUP S.-G1, £500,000, Goodwood, 7-30, 3yo/up, 16fT, 3:29.11, gd.
1–STRADIVARIUS (IRE), 135, h, 5, by Sea the Stars (Ire)
1st Dam: Private Life (Fr) (MSP-Fr), by Bering (GB)
2nd Dam: Poughkeepsie (Ire), by Sadler's Wells
3rd Dam: Pawneese (Ire), by Carvin II
(330,000gns RNA Ylg '15 TATOCT). O/B-Bjorn Nielsen (IRE); T-John Gosden; J-Lanfranco Dettori. £283,550. Lifetime Record: 17-12-1-2, $2,946,104. *1/2 to Persian Storm (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}), Hwt. 3yo-Ger at 9.5-11f & MGSW-Ger, $121,198; Rembrandt Van Rijn (Ire) (Peintre Celebre), GSP-Eng, $167,081; and Magical Eve (Ger) (Oratorio {Ire}), SP-SAf. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Dee Ex Bee (GB), 135, c, 4, Farhh (GB)–Dubai Sunrise, by Seeking the Gold. O-Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum; B-Godolphin (GB); T-Mark Johnston. £107,500.
3–Cross Counter (GB), 135, g, 4, Teofilo (Ire)–Waitress, by Kingmambo. O/B-Godolphin (GB); T-Charlie Appleby. £53,800.
Margins: NK, 1 3/4, 7. Odds: 0.80, 5.50, 3.00.
Also Ran: Southern France (Ire), Dashing Willoughby (GB), South Pacific (GB), Harpo Marx (Ire), Wells Farhh Go (Ire). Scratched: Raa Atoll (GB). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.