Glorious Goodwood day one - Stradivarius wins FOURTH Goodwood Cup

The mighty stayer, trained by John Gosden and ridden by Frankie Dettori, created history by becoming the first horse to win the G1 Qatar Goodwood Cup four times, adding to his wins in 2017, 2018 and 2019. He previously shared the honour of three Goodwood Cup wins with Double Trigger (1995, 1997, 1998) although even then was the first horse to win three in a row.

It was Nayef Road (Mark Johnston/Andrea Atzeni, 20/1) who took the seven-strong field along. He still held the advantage entering the straight, with Stradivarius looking a bit short of room. It was not until inside the final furlong that Stradivarius found the necessary opening and quickened impressively, taking the lead half a furlong out and recording an ultimately cosy length success over Nayef Road.

The 15/8 second favourite, this season’s G1 Irish Derby winner Santiago (Aidan O’Brien IRE/Ryan Moore), held every chance two furlongs out but was unable to quicken in the final furlong and finished third.

Gosden said: “Stradivarius is not big in stature and actually today he is carrying 10st 1lb because he has 3lbs for the jockey’s equipment and 3lbs for the weight allowance due to Covid-19 and the way the season is.

“So, to carry 141lbs round two miles on dead ground – it’s beautiful ground, but slow ground – is some achievement. He had to work for it today. He came in pretty relaxed about it, but it is no penalty kick as I said earlier in the week.

“He has been in tremendous form since Royal Ascot. But I knew that, you know, you keep piling those big races on. He ran in the Coronation Cup [1m 4f, Newmarket, 5 June] and he ran brilliantly and obviously the Gold Cup before this, so he is going to have a freshen up now.

“I knew he was in very good order, but I think it is something like this where Frankie wanted to wait and pounce rather than get in a slogging match from three and a half, two furlongs down. Once he has gone and won, he is quite clever now and thinks he has done his job, so you can’t get there too soon as he pulls himself up like he did last year."

Dettori said: “Obviously, Santiago was the one that I feared most. I was trying to get in front of him from the start, but Tom Marquand already had that slot. I wanted to get cover so I had to drop back one place, and then as we go to the back, I got in behind the wheels of Santiago, and I thought, you know, we have got 15lb less weight, he will make that weight difference count and kick early, but it turned out to be a two-furlong sprint.

"If you want to sprint with Stradivarius, then you have got to be pretty good. And although I was boxed in for a furlong, once I got out he has just got too many gears. I was surprised by the way the race panned out; I didn’t expect the Goodwood Cup to become a two-furlong sprint.

“I thought Nayef Road would go a good gallop and I thought Santiago would wind it up from three and a half and make me work and make me carry that weight, but he didn’t. Good for me.

“I was worried when I was held in, because obviously when you do a sprint it takes you a furlong to really find the rhythm, and once the sprint came I thought that is his break. His greatest weapon is his turn of foot; I don’t remember a stayer with a turn of foot like his. OK, he won the Gold Cup [at Ascot] by 10 lengths, but he always wins by a short margin; he passes them and he thinks he has done enough, so I think a combination of that and his class; he’s small but he is all heart."

Owner-breeder Bjorn Nielsen added: “It’s for other people to say [whether Stradivarius is one of the great stayers] but I think he deserves to be in the conversation. Those three big horses [Sagaro, Le Moss & Ardross] and Yeats obviously as well, and you can’t take Double Trigger out of there. They are real horses and it is an amazing thing that Stradivarius turns up on my doorstep because I don’t have a big stable. You have guys like Sheikh Mohammed with 500 horses and Coolmore with all their horses, how do I wind up with Stradivarius? There is a lot of luck involved, a lot of luck."

Here's what happened in Goodwood's other races...

1.10pm

The first winner of what promises to be a wonderful week was Tomorrow's Dream, who took the British European Breeders Fund EBF Fillies' Handicap under former Goodwood racecourse ambassador for trainer William Haggas at 11/2, finishing a length and a half ahead of 9/4 favourite Angel Power.

After tracking the leaders, the three-year-old daughter of Oasis Dream began to make stealthy headway quarter of a mile from home and went to the front entering the final furlong. She never looked in any danger thereafter, coming home a length and a half to the good of 9/4 favourite Angel Power (Roger Varian/Silvestre De Sousa).

Marquand, celebrating his 50th winner of the season, said: “I am really impressed with Tomorrow’s Dream. I won on her two runs ago at Chepstow and she really didn’t handle the track at all and took a long time to get going, but she hit the line very hard.

“She was probably caught up in a little bit of a tactical affair at Newbury – she had to come out round them – and I think it just halted that little bit of momentum she had. The winner won pretty convincingly in the end there, but she ran a really nice race.

“We didn’t go that hard there today; I got landed in a nice pitch from an easy draw [stall 5], and to be fair she showed a really good turn of foot, because we weren’t going that quick. At this time of year, the weight you are getting for being on the three-year-olds – it’s a pretty big help, but she’s clearly done well for the winter and is a nice filly to go forward with.

“It is a massive week. Goodwood has always been a big part of the season; being an apprentice at Richard Hannon’s, it was always a main focus, and to win the first race on such a big week is fantastic and hopefully gets the ball rolling for the rest of the week.”

1.45pm

Goodwood's top trainer in recent years Mark Johnston didn't have long to wait for his first success of the week - Silvestre De Sousa and Maydanny (5/1 fav) taking the Unibet You're On Handicap with ease. Johnston's Sky Defender (33/1) was second - but five lengths back.

Johnston, celebrating his 85th Glorious Goodwood winner, said: "It's always nice to get off to a quick start, even better with a one-two."

Johnston is the most successful current handler at Gloriousl and Maydanny was a decisive winner. The four-year-old Dubawi gelding, out of Johnston’s five-time G1 winner Attraction, took the lead in the first furlong and was not for passing. Entering the final quarter mile, he found more and went on to win by five lengths. For good measure, Johnston also trained the runner-up Sky Defender (Joe Fanning) with just a nose back to the third Bell Rock (Andrew Balding/Oisin Murphy).

Charlie Johnston, assistant trainer to his father, said: “Maydanny has always been a horse we have held in high regard because of his pedigree at least. He did not fulfil that as an early two and three-year-old. A lot of that was due to his temperament."

“He was quite difficult in his early years and he was gelded in the winter of last year which made a big difference to the horse. He obviously came out and won at Yarmouth, ran well on the wrong side of the track at Royal Ascot, and we left Newmarket scratching our heads as we didn’t know why he ran such a bad race. The ground was possibly the issue as it was a day when there was a lot of heavy rain and it was quite soft.

“Back on better ground and with a positive ride over this trip, he proved he was well-handicapped.

“It was also a fantastic effort from Sky Defender."

2.15

The Veuve Clicquot Vintage Stakes (Group 2) was taken by Ryan Moore on the Aidan O'Brien-trained 13/8 favourite Battleground - as tipped in three different preview pieces on this website - and was immediately priced as short as 7/1 for next year's 2000 Guineas at Newmarket.

By War Front, Battleground is the first foal of Found, who won three G1 races including the 2015 Breeders' Cup Turf and 2016 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Prior to today, Battleground won the Listed Chesham Stakes over the same distance at Royal Ascot.

Settled in behind the leaders, Battleground was pulled to the outside to deliver his challenge two furlongs from home and took a decisive advantage to lead entering the final furlong. He never looked in any danger after that, staying on well to score by two lengths from Devious Company (Tom Dascombe/Richard Kingscote).

O'Brien, previously successful in this contest with Highland Reel (2014) and War Decree (2016), said: "This was Battleground's first run after Ascot; we were very happy with him at home and we thought it was a lovely race for him to get experience from. The ground was lovely and safe and Ryan was very happy with him."

Moore, who previously won this race on War Decree (2016) said: "Battleground is a beautiful horse. He travelled very easily, picked up the second horse quite quickly and was just doing enough in front. He has plenty of speed and we will see how he develops."

2.45

The Qatar Lennox Stakes brought the day's second consecutive winning favourite as William Buick eased to victory on the 2/1 market leader Space Blues for Charlie Appleby.and owners Godolphin.

Appleby said: "I'm delighted. He got a nice clean run round there. William was keen to make sure he kept it simple with him and he did. It will be nice to see how fresh we can get him as quick as possible. It will be nice to give him a crack at a Group 1."

3.45

Only Spoofing was a surprise 14/1 winner of the Qatar Handicap under Kieran O'Neill for trainer Jedd O'Keeffe.

A tremendous finish to the five-furlong dash saw Only Spoofing get up close home to deny long-time leader Acclaim The Nation (Eric Alston/Jason Hart, 7/1) by a neck.

O’Neill said: “Usually Only Spoofing is bang there and he’s not afraid to make it, but I spoke to Jedd [O’Keeffe, trainer] and the owner this morning and they said, ride him as you find him.

“So, I jumped handy and we were rolling on and I’m on the bridle and coming strong at the end. Even Caspian Prince was struggling there for a furlong, that was how quick we were going, but I was going nicely. I was in a nice rhythm, and by the time I got him in a full stride he got going and he was doing it nicely at the end."

4.20

Alkumalt justified the tag of 5/4 favourite to win the British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Stakes, ridden by Sussex's Jim Crowley for Marcus Tregoning. That was a fifth favourite to succeed on day one of the festival, recording a decisive victory over six furlongs.

Sporting the famous silks of owner Hamdan Al Maktoum, the son of Showcasing was slowly away and held up at the rear of the field. After smooth progress to challenge two furlongs out, he led entering the final furlong and went on to score by two and a quarter lengths from Tawleed (John Gosden/Martin Harley, 10/1), who is also owned by Hamdan Al Maktoum.

Tregoning said: “Alkumait is a lovely horse who is by Showcasing like Mohaather. He has got plenty of speed and I was quite impressed with him today. He missed the kick slightly, but I think that helped. When he picked up, it was just hands and heels and he is quite a nice horse in the making I feel.

“Martin Dwyer rode him at Newbury and gave him a lovely confidence boosting ride and got him to settle. He had been fiery at home, but he has been very settled since.

4.55

The British European Breeders Fund EBF Fillies' Handicap brought success for Andrea Atzeni and Roger Varian as Believe In Love came in an 11/1 winner.

The three-year-old Make Believe filly came from off the pace to challenge two furlongs from home. She was second entering the final furlong and stayed on resolutely to score by two lengths from Asiaaf (Marcus Tregoning/Jim Crowley, 4/1).

Atzeni said: "It's nice to win on Believe In Love again. She is a filly who ran well on the All-Weather a few times. She has had a bit of time off and we didn't know what to expect. She is a filly who just goes through the motions in the race. She never gave me a feel. When she came out the stalls, I tried to get her into a position in the midfield and she was on and off the bridle.

"Coming down the hill, she pulled herself together and travelled good. At one stage I was going to pull her out, but I could see Jim Crowley travelling well on the inside so I just followed him through and my filly stuck her neck out and galloped all the way to the line."

Join us on Wednesday for the Sussex Stakes and the rest of the second day's action

Here's the pick of our coverage in the build-up to the festival

Day one preview and selections by Jack Dawling.

2019 Qatar Festival in pictures.

All the 2020 runners and riders.

A look ahead to Wednesday's Sussex Stakes.

Ed Arkell on the week's big races.