Easy does it for Stradivarius as he lands Cup hat-trick
Peerless stayer heading for another £1m bonus Accidental Agent ready to floor three-year-olds
As easy as one-two-three; Stradivarius, one of the great stayers of all time, became only the second horse in more than 200 years to win a third Qatar Goodwood Cup, when he beat Dee Ex Bee by a neck on the first day of Glorious Goodwood.
Afterwards, Bjorn Nielsen’s homebred five-year-old – who is a 2/5 shot to land his second Weatherbys-hamilton £1 million stayers bonus – did not look like a horse who had just had a hard race. Apart from a killer turn of foot, it is a major asset that he does not expend an ounce more energy than necessary. So while he may never win by far he rarely endures a hard race.
Indeed, with Frankie Dettori celebrating a stride too soon, the staying-on Dee Ex Bee nearly got back at him. “When you stop riding the handbrake goes on and you go over the handlebars,” joked trainer John Gosden.
Otherwise it was simple. The jockey of the moment slip-streamed Cross Counter, pulled Stradivarius out at the two-furlong marker, was in front at the furlong pole and, at the winning post, Stradivarius joined Double Trigger as the only other three-time winner. He also the first to win three consecutively.
When asked what it meant to have both Enable and Stradivarius in his yard, Gosden recalled returning from the United States in 1989 and driving for four hours to see Desert Orchid win the Cheltenham Gold Cup. “Remember the trainer of the previous race [David Elsworth],” he said. “It’s very important to have horses like that.”
Dettori, who cannot do much wrong this summer, said: “He felt brilliant today. I wanted to follow James [Doyle] and it was like the Tour de France – he took me into the race. I celebrated 10 yards too soon, but what a beautiful horse.”
Elsworth, without a winner of any description since April, came off the cold list when Sir Dancealot won the Lennox Stakes for the second year running. “I haven’t had a winner since dung-spreading time,” Elsworth said. “One or two have run well and I thought the one in the first would run well, mind you he was 50-1. But he finished last! It’s been tough but you don’t lose your nerve, do you? Or do you?”
Pinatubo, the Godolphin twoyear-old named after a volcano in the Philippines, looked a very smart winner of the Chesham at Royal Ascot and yesterday finished five lengths clear of a decent field in the Vintage Stakes. “We’ve been impressed with him from day one, or rather day one on the racetrack,” said trainer Charlie Appleby. “You can’t get excited watching him in the morning.” Pinatubo already has the look of the season’s best twoyear-old and bookmakers concur, some going as short as 9-4 for next year’s 2,000 Guineas.
Today’s £1 million Qatar Sussex Stakes may not be a vintage renewal unless the three-year-olds up their game and put on a show for us. Circus Maximus, winner of the St James’s Stakes at Ascot on soft ground, Too Darn Hot (third) and Phoenix of Spain (sixth), all meet again. But at this stage the threeyear-olds do not look world-beaters, so this may be the occasion that Accidental Agent, in first-time cheekpieces, adds another chapter to his remarkable story. There has never been much between him and Lord Glitters, but one is 25-1 and the other is 8-1.