Goodwood

Now that Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) has managed to establish unquestionable dominance over the older stayers, the popular chestnut has a feat of magnitude to pull off on Tuesday if he is to secure a record fourth renewal of the G1 Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup. That involves surrendering a 15-pound weight-for-age advantage to a G1 Irish Derby winner in Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}), who like Bjorn Nielsen's star did three years ago comes here looking to exploit that anomaly. Weeks before Stradivarius upstaged Big Orange (GB) (Duke of...

Trainer Aidan O'Brien has announced plans for two of his 3-year-old stars of 2020, G1 Investec Derby upsetter Serpentine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and G1 Irish Derby hero Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}). Serpentine will make his next start in the G1 Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris at ParisLongchamp on Arc Trial day Sept. 13. "The lads [owners Coolmore] wanted to keep him at a mile and a half, with a view that he could go for the Arc or something like that," O'Brien said. The Grand Prix de Paris replaces the...

Godolphin's unbeaten Earthlight (Ire) (Shamardal), a winner of the G1 Prix Morny and G1 Middle Park S. as a juvenile, is a potential runner in the upcoming G1 Qatar Sussex S. at Goodwood on July 29. Although injury kept him from the G1 French 2000 Guineas, he resurfaced to take a listed race at ParisLongchamp the same day as Godolphin's champion and MG1SW Pinatubo (GB) (Shamardal) claimed the G1 Prix Jean Prat. The one-mile feature is also the next likely target for G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas hero Kameko (Kitten's Joy),...

Some spectators will be allowed to attend the final day of the Qatar Goodwood Festival on Aug. 1 as part of a pilot test of crowds at sporting events organized by The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Attendance will initially be offered to Goodwood annual members and their guests. People onsite, including spectators and participants, will be capped at 5,000. The Racecourse Association said Goodwood was chosen as an appropriate location for the pilot because it is in a "rural setting with a low prevalence rate of the...

Goodwood Racecourse released prize money for the 2020 Qatar Goodwood Festival Thursday. The five-day meeting, which will kick off with the G1 Goodwood Cup July 28, will offer a total prize fund of just over £2,300,000. The Qatar Goodwood Festival will run from July 28 through Aug. 1. A purse of ₤275,000 will be on offer for the week's feature race--the G1 Qatar Sussex S. "Obviously prize money for this year's Qatar Goodwood Festival is less than previous years, and significantly less than we would want, but any major race...

Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) are set to lead a strong team for champion trainer John Gosden at York next week. The brilliant Enable is on course for the G1 Darley Yorkshire Oaks on the Thursday of the four-day Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival, with Stradivarius once more in line for the £-1million Weatherbys Hamilton Stayers' bonus if he can win the G2 Lonsdale Cup on the Friday. The Khalid Abdullah-owned mare has already won the G1 Coral-Eclipse and G1King George VI And Queen...

Last week's G3 Molecomb S. winner Liberty Beach (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}) is likely to take in York's G2 Lowther S. on Aug. 22 rather than the G1 Prix Morny at Deauville four days earlier, according to trainer John Quinn. "She's in the Morny and the Lowther, but I think she'll run in the Lowther," said Quinn. "She's been absolutely fine since Goodwood. She's had an easy-ish time since. She cantered lovely on Monday and I couldn't be happier with her. "Obviously you never know until you try [six furlongs],...

The Richard Hannon-trained juveniles Threat (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) and Mystery Power (Ire) (No Nay Never) were both overturned at Goodwood last week, but the trainer said he is confident both colts will bounce back. Cheveley Park Stud's 'TDN Rising Star' Threat, who had finished second in the G2 Coventry S., was beaten 3/4 of a length in second in the G2 Richmond S. at Goodwood after a less than ideal trip. "I was disappointed he didn't win at Goodwood as I think the world of the horse, but they did...

G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Phoenix of Spain (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) is set to step up in trip after disappointing in the G1 Sussex S. last week. He holds entries in the G1 Juddmonte International at York on Aug. 21 and the G1 Irish Champion S. at Leopardstown on Sept. 14. Trainer Charlie Hills admitted he does not know what to attribute the colt's lacklustre Sussex effort to. "He had a canter [on Tuesday] and moved really nicely," Hills said. "We are just scratching our heads. Whether the...

In the midst of a hot streak for Japanese-bred runners in Britain, 2017 G1 Japan Cup winner Cheval Grand (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) is gearing up for a second British start of the summer in the G1 Juddmonte International at York on Aug. 21. The 7-year-old entire kicked off 2019 with a second in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic on Mar. 30, after which he was beaten 13 lengths by Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. on July 27, an effort assistant...

Mirage Dancer (GB) (Frankel {GB}) has been sold to race in Australia, with new connections already eyeing outings in the G1 Caulfield and G1 Melbourne Cups. Trained by Sir Michael Stoute in Britain, Mirage Dancer won four of his 16 starts and was last seen when finishing 2 1/4 lengths second in the G3 Glorious S. at Goodwood last week. The 5-year-old will join the yard of training partners Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young after he jets out of Newmarket next month. Busuttin told www.racing.com, "He's been bought for Caulfield...

We've had two really good festivals over the last week and the quality of racing at Goodwood was superb. Again John Gosden and Frankie Dettori took centre stage but I think the highlight was really Deirdre (Jpn) winning the Nassau Stakes. Japan is such a great racing nation and I think we'll see more and more Japanese horses coming in this direction to race and that's only good for the sport and for international racing. I hope that the connections of those Japanese horses racing in this part of the...