The historic royal racing colours are set to go to post with a live chance in next month’s St Leger at Doncaster, the final Classic of the season, after Desert Hero, who was bred by the late Queen Elizabeth II, made a successful step up from handicaps to Group Three company in the Gordon Stakes here on Thursday.
King Charles and Queen Camilla were at Ascot to see Desert Hero work his way through a series of gaps to win the King George V Handicap at last month’s royal meeting, and the three-year-old needed to be brave once again as Tom Marquand, his rider, looked for running room from two furlongs out before switching to quicken past the front-running Chesspiece well inside the final furlong.
“He proved at Ascot that he’s tough and progressive at the same time,” Marquand said. “He had to take a big step forward today and I was super-impressed with him. He had a bit of practice at Ascot getting through some tight gaps and he has one of the rare traits of horse, that he’ll wedge himself into a gap and not take a back step out of it when it gets tight.”
The royal colours were carried to victory in five British Classics during the late queen’s reign and Desert Hero is now third-favourite at around 6-1 to give the new king and queen their first Classic success at Doncaster on 16 September.
“For the king and queen to have a horse of this calibre in their first year, taking on from the [late] queen and with a horse that was bred by her, is a dream come true,” John Warren, their racing manager, said.
“The king told me many years ago that he was always going to be committed to taking on the bloodstock portfolio [from his mother] and, true to his word, he has been fascinated by it, because now it is on his watch. The king and queen looked at the stock 10 days ago and they are really getting their head around the young stock that is coming on.
“A race like this on an amazing track like Goodwood makes the effort worthwhile.”
Goodwood is a track that can bite the very best of jockeys and it sank its teeth into Aurelien Lemaître as the French rider came home fourth of the six runners aboard Blue Rose Cen, the odds-on favourite for the Group One Nassau Stakes.
Al Husn, a 9-1 chance ridden by Jim Crowley, will go into the record books as the winner, but this looked very much like a Group One that got away for Blue Rose Cen, Lemaître and Christopher Head, the filly’s trainer.
Ryan Moore, on Joseph O’Brien’s Above The Curve, set a steady pace through the first half of the race, as Blue Rose Cen settled a couple of lengths away in third with Al Husn on her outside. The positions remained largely unchanged until the cutaway just over three furlongs from home.
It was here that Lemaître decided to steer towards the far rail, which was exactly what Moore was hoping he would do. He got to the rail first and Lemaître was forced to steady Blue Rose Cen for a moment, ending up in the pocket that would be his prison for the remainder of the race. Above The Curve kept on well to finish second as Crowley seized the chance to snatch the win on Al Husn, while Nashwa, who had a clear run out wide, stayed on to edge Blue Rose Cen for third.
The race was Lemaître’s first ride at Goodwood but Head said afterwards that he had not considered switching to a rider with more experience of the track.
“It’s different here so we need to respect it, and of course, going to the racing, even with a strong possibility of winning, there is still a possibility to fail,” Head said.
“It’s important to build a team. We are working together and of course Aurelien is part of the team.”
Sonny Liston rates a knockout bet
The advantage attached to a single-figure draw in the Coral Golden Mile at Goodwood is inescapable, with 21 of the 23 winners this century having emerged from stall nine or lower, and the first place to start any attempt to untangle this year’s renewal on Friday is to put a line through anything drawn in double figures.
That rules out several runners with decent claims on the book, including Perotto (17), Awaal (12) and Blue For You (11), but still leaves many possibilities, including Lattam, the favourite, from stall three.
William Haggas’s four-year-old has obvious claims with form figures of 1-2-1 this season but prefers to arrive late and might struggle to take full advantage of his low stall.
A price of around 7-2 looks thin in the circumstances and with many bookies offering six or even seven places each-way, Sonny Liston (3.00), is a more appealing bet at around 20-1.
Ralph Beckett’s gelding “won” on the stands’ side when second in the Royal Hunt Cup in June and did not get 10 furlongs last time. He is still in the early stages of his handicapping career and could spring a minor surprise returned to what seems likely to be his ideal trip.
Bangor 1.40 Zafar 2.10 Taragrace 2.45 Flora Paget 3.20 Inca Prince 3.55 Lights Are Green 4.30 Gavin 5.10 Toronto 5.40 Getaway Luv
Goodwood 1.50 Temporize (nb) 2.25 Nostrum 3.00 Sonny Liston (nap) 3.35 Highfield Princess 4.10 Hamish 4.45 Specific Times 5.20 Dancing In Paris
Wolverhampton 2.00 Geelong 2.35 Harappan 3.10 Mc Loven 3.45 Moulin Booj 4.20 Mostallim 4.55 Give A Little Back 5.25 Hooflepuff
Newmarket 5.45 Lake Forest 6.20 Porfin 6.55 Ragosina 7.30 Doom 8.00 Film Star 8.30 Outrun The Storm
Bath 5.55 Big Bard 6.30 Via Electriano 7.05 Ribal 7.35 Uther Pendragon 8.05 Katar 8.35 Fossos
Musselburgh 6.10 Let Her Loose 6.45 Be Here Now 7.20 Consoling 7.50 Bonito Cavalo 8.20 Runninwild 8.50 Borough
Goodwood 1.50 Syd Hosie has kept Temporize busy since the four-year-old moved from Charlie Johnston’s yard in early July, and this unusual and extreme test will be his third run in a fortnight. That is concern, but a quick turnaround did no harm when he put up a career-best performance at Ascot last week and the 14-1 chance could be hard to keep out of the frame if he is at a similar level here.
Goodwood 2.25 Nostrum was being considered for a run against Paddington in Wednesday’s Sussex Stakes until the weekend and it will be a big disappointment if he fails to build on an impressive return to action at Newmarket last month.
Goodwood 3.00 Highfield Princess is winless in three outings this season but she has run with huge credit in strong company in all three and this slight ease in grade after two Group One events at the royal meeting should see her return to winning form.
