Stradivarius hits another high note as he moves a step closer to £1m windfall

Stradivarius moved nearer to securing a £1 million bonus following his second successive victory in the Qatar Goodwood Cup.

With wins in the Yorkshire Cup and Gold Cup at Royal Ascot already in the bag, the John Gosden-trained fouryear-old now just requires victory in the Lonsdale Cup at York to scoop the windfall from the inaugural WH Stayers’ Million.

Reunited with last year’s winning rider Andrea Atzeni, who was deputising for the suspended Frankie Dettori, the 4-5 favourite got the better of a final-furlong tussle with old rival Torcedor before emerging triumphant by half a length.

Gosden said: “I thought Colm [O’donoghue, on Torcedor] rode a clever race from the front. He had to work to get there, but he is a great horse. He has battled to get there.

“It was not quite the same test as it was at Ascot, but he has got the job done well.

“We had it tied up from the last half-furlong.”

He added: “That [Lonsdale] would be the obvious choice. I’m sure they’ve got it very well insured.

“We will have to do everything we can to try to win the Lonsdale Cup.”

Mark Johnston may deem it too early to start thinking of next year’s 2000 Guineas, but he could soon have to give it considerable attention after Dark Vision made it three from three when coming from last to first to land the Group Two Qatar Vintage Stakes.

Johnston said of his 100-30 winner: “Everyone thinks if you win a Vintage Stakes you are a 2000 Guineas horse. Of course we’ve got to think about it, but at the same time I’m not a great believer in planning in August for next May.

“It surprised me the manner of it [win]. To give away that amount of ground and win is impressive.”

Gerald Mosse has been a master at his trade for over 30 years and he used all of his experience to turn a seemingly hopeless position into a winning one when getting Sir Dancealot up by a short head in the Group Two Qatar Lennox Stakes.

Winning trainer David Elsworth quipped after his 5-1 scorer had obliged: “He got into more trouble than I get into in the pub on a Saturday night when I’ve had a few!

“Seriously, he would have been an unlucky loser. His level of form has been very good, which gave him a very good chance today.”

Richard Hannon signalled the high regard in which he holds Watan (6-1) following his two-length victory on his debut over stablemate Dirty Rascal in the Nginious! Swiss Gin EBF Maiden Stakes.

The Marlborough handler said: “He has always been a smashing horse that has shown a fair bit.

“We were talking about putting him in the Morny or the Francois-boutin.”