3 minute read
Stradivarius (4/5 favourite) emulated Double Trigger (1995, 1997 & 1998) by recording a third victory in the Qatar Goodwood Cup.
Ridden by Frankie Dettori and trained by John Gosden, the superstar stayer extended his unbeaten sequence to eight wins with a vintage display in the two-mile contest.
The five-year-old travelled powerfully into contention in the home straight and displayed his customary turn of foot to win eased down by a neck from the Mark Johnston-trained Dee Ex Bee (11/2) in second.
Stradivarius' illustrious win record now features three Qatar Goodwood Cups, two Gold Cups, two Yorkshire Cups, a Lonsdale Cup and a QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup success.
He will win the Weatherbys Hamilton Stayers' Million Bonus for the second year running if he lands the G2 Lonsdale Cup at York's Ebor meeting next month.
Discussing the stayer after the race, Newmarket trainer Gosden said: "Stradivarius is a gorgeous horse. He followed Cross Counter and that is proper horse. Frankie followed the right horse, pounced at the right time, timed it beautifully and then overdid the waving at the crowd.
"I was not comfortable where he was early on in the race, but from halfway I was happy with his position. We discussed what we thought would happen in the race and then you leave Frankie alone to decide during the race.
"Stradivarius has won his race and then our great hero started waving to the crowd. I must say that is a little dangerous because Stradivarius is a pro and when you say 'well that's enough', he says 'OK, I'll put the brakes on' and it was lucky Frankie didn't go over the handle bars I thought!
"It is great to emulate Double Trigger who was a great horse of Mark Johnston's. Stradivarius is a little street fighter and he just puts it in when he has to. That is the great thing about this horse.
"He was in the yard roaring like a bull at 5.15am this morning telling everyone that he was ready. We were all thrilled with that and he is just a real pro.
"He is a very unique horse. They are not meant to have four white socks and a white face and be on the neat side. I would never call him small, he's neat.
"Stradivarius knows how to win. We never overwork him at home and always let him do what he enjoys doing. He is just a grand horse and it is wonderful to have a horse like him win three Goodwood Cups.
"Bjorn Nielsen bred him, owns him, and I think to him that is profoundly fulfilling to him to have bred the horse.
"We are lucky to have horse like this in the stable. We have fantastic staff, whether it be assistants, riders, yard people, head people.
"It is still good ground. The rain has come, but it has been blasted through and is not sitting over us. He probably would have won in good to soft, but that is not his favourite. He can quicken and a horse that can quicken wants top of the ground - that is the great weapon they have. If you take that away, then you have blunted them."
Frankie Dettori was clearly humming with excited relief after riding Bjorn Nielsen's Stradivarius to victory.
It was a historic triumph, for the five-year-old became the first horse to win the famous two-mile race three years in a row. He became Dettori's 10th Group One winner since May, and is now one win away from landing the £1m bonus given by Weatherbys Hamilton Insurance for any horse who can win a sequence of four staying races. Stradivarius, who has now won 12 of 16 races, and his last eight in a row, landed the Yorkshire Cup in May, the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in June, and now today's big prize. He needs to win the Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup at York on August 23 to land the bonus again.
The John Gosden-trained Stradivarius (4/5f) beat Dee Ex Bee (11/2) by a neck, but Dettori was celebrating before the line and the winner could have won by half a length or perhaps more. In third was Cross Counter (3/1).
Dettori laughed when he said: "It's not good for the heart - after winning the King George on Saturday [on Enable] and now this on the two most popular and precious horses in training, and with the following of people they both have.
"I had the perfect race, and followed the one I thought would be the biggest threat [Cross Counter]. He took me into the race, and it was great to be behind him, otherwise I would have had to make my move earlier. As always, my horse showed he is a stayer with a turn of foot. He passed the others very easily, but when he got to the front and had the race won I probably celebrated a stride too early. Everyone is panicking, but I've been here before and know where the winning post is.
"He's an amazing horse who wastes very little energy, is mentally tough and is never going to be flash and win by ten lengths, but he gets the job done. All I have to do is put him in the race and he does the rest. He's a perfect partner.
"It's important for the public to have a horse who stays in training for so long and keeps delivering and with Stradivarius you know what you are going to get - a fight. Which is why people love him.
"It's nerve-wracking and exciting, but I work for a great trainer in John Gosden, who puts it on a plate for me. He and the staff should have all the credit."
Owner-breeder Bjorn Nielsen full of praise for his Stradivarius after the five-year-old son of Sea The Stars landed the G1 Qatar Goodwood Cup for the third year in succession.
Nielsen said: "Stradivarius is an amazing horse.
"He obviously has a great will to win and is such a cool horse mentally. He is so relaxed and I think that is why he is as good as he is, together with having an unbelievable trainer and brilliant jockey.
"This gets more nerve-racking as you go on because you start to realise that it is becoming historic, like winning three Goodwood Cups in a row.
" I am actually more nervous now - I must have checked the weather forecast 100 times last night - as compared to a year or two ago.
"A horse like Stradivarius comes along for very few people. I am very lucky."
"I thought it was a very good field. The three-year-olds were getting 15lb, which is a lot of weight, and you worry about everything when you come into a race like that. And there were the horses from the Gold Cup - Dee Ex Bee is a great stayer and Cross Counter sat a long way off in the Gold Cup and I thought that he would sit a lot closer to us. I was surprised that he actually led us.
"I thought it was the perfect position for Frankie to able to sit there and pick them off because with this horse, the horses in front of him aren't going to beat him. While he is enthusiastic and healthy, he is going to pick anything off because he is very competitive.
"He wants to win and he doesn't expend any energy beforehand. He is walking around like 'Oh, I have got to do this again, what's the big deal?' because he is unbelievably relaxed.
"I have no plans to retire him. It depends obviously on what happens the rest of this year. Those horses [Le Moss, Sagaro and Ardross] were great horses and legends in their own right. You can't really compare Stradivarius to them at this stage - everyone is going to want to at the end of his career and who knows? They are legends no matter what he does. If he stays healthy and enthusiastic, I am assuming that he will continue racing next year."
'Ever the bridesmade, never the bride', a phrase that trainer Mark Johnston must know well after Dee Ex Bee came home a neck second to Stradivarius, who was completing an historic hat trick of victories in the £500,000 G1 Qatar Goodwood Cup, the feature race on the opening day of the Qatar Goodwood Festival, 2019.
Johnston commented: "We were a bit closer to Stradivarius this time, partly because Frankie [Dettori] dropped his hands, but we were a margin closer anyway, even before he dropped his hands.
"Dee Ex Bee sticks on so well, there is no doubt that today was great. Wells Farhh Go did nothing for us, he was too far in front, but the other horse [third-placed 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 Prix du Cadran and the 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 stay in training next year."
Asked about Stradivarius matching Double Trigger's record of three wins in the Qatar Goodwood Cup Johnston replied: "I wish he hadn't! But all credit to him, he has done it in style. Stradivarius can thank Dee Ex Bee and Cross Counter - people won't say he has done the treble in a weak division. You can't take it away from the winner, these are good Goodwood Cups."
Jockey Silvestre de Sousa added: "He ran well. We got beaten by the horse we thought might beat us. We got a bit closer this time."
Cross Counter, ridden by James Doyle, hit the front in the 2019 G1 Qatar Goodwood Cup with over a furlong to race, but could not hold Stradivarius and Dee Ex Bee who both beat him in last month's Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.
He was beaten a neck and a length and three quarters, but Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby was pleased with Cross Counter's performance.
Appleby commented: "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.
"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.
"Someone standing next me said he wished the race was a furlong further - I replied that we tried four furlongs further at Ascot and we still couldn't beat Stradivarius, who is a supreme champion. It was a great race to watch and great for racing."
Cross Counter won the G1 Melbourne Cup for Godolphin at Flemington in November and will now attempt to carry off the race that stops Australia again.
The trainer said: "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 Cross Counter comes out of this race and we might take in the Irish St Leger (G1, 14f, the Curragh, September 15) before returning to Melbourne.
"You won't see these class of stayers all over the world, so for Cross Counter to be mixing it with Stradivarius and Dee Ex Bee shows that he still holds his ability and his enthusiasm.
"He has strengthened this year. He was a well-handicapped horse when winning last year's Melbourne Cup."
Doyle added: "Cross Counter has run a good race again. He stays well, but Stradivarius is too good, while Dee Ex Bee is a fair horse as well. The right three horses finished in the top three."
