Goodwood Saturday

Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes (Group 2)

TOM Marquand was seen at his brilliant best on Quickthorn in the Goodwood Cup and the jockey once again showed his impeccable judgment of pace when taking the Group 2 Lillie Langtry with a daring front-running ride on 25/1 shot Sumo Sam for Paul and Oliver Cole.

On ground turned heavy by unrelenting rain, Sumo Sam maintained solid early fractions in the mile-and-three-quarter contest, and despite her status as an outsider, she was able to kick again in the straight to put the race to bed, passing the post with a yawning gap of eight and a half lengths back to River Of Stars (Ralph Beckett/Rossa Ryan), who in turn was five and a half lengths clear of Time Lock (Harry and Roger Charlton/Ryan Moore) in third.

Favourite Free Wind was conceding weight all round and floundered in the conditions, finishing a modest fourth.

Sumo Sam hasn’t been seen to best effect since a good second in the Pretty Polly Stakes at Newmarket in the spring. Unable to dominate after starting slowly, she has an entry in the Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes, although was said to have “plenty of options” by Oliver Cole after the race, and is likely to be campaigned with soft ground in mind, having looked the only one here to genuinely handle the conditions.

River Of Stars was a tad unlucky having stumbled badly at the start, meaning she had to race towards the rear, but Ralph Beckett was inclined to blame the ground rather than the stumble, feeling that she was always scrambling on the heavy turf.

Loves it

Oliver Cole said: “Sumo Sam has always been a very good filly. She ran very well at Newmarket on good to soft first time this year, then the ground has probably gone against her – she obviously loves it like this.

“We have done a lot of stalls work with her since her last run. In her last two races, she has been left and that hasn’t been helpful. She takes a lot of pushing in and a lot of cajoling, and the stalls handlers make it look so easy.

“Full credit to the team at home, and thanks very much to the guys at the stalls who do what a lot of us wouldn’t do so full credit to them; also to the boys who have ridden her in the stalls at home, because I know I wouldn’t ride her.”

ANDREA Atzeni ended as he had started as he steered 18/1 chance Aberama Gold (David O’Meara) to success in the Coral Stewards’ Cup.

Having won the first race of the meeting on Lord Riddiford, Atzeni was always well positioned on Aberama Gold, and he took over a furlong out before holding the challenge of Apollo One (Peter Charalambous and James Clutterbuck/Richard Kingscote) by three-quarters of a length. Bielsa and Mr Wagyu filled the remaining places.

The winning jockey will shortly be leaving the UK to continue his career in Hong Kong, so was ending on the perfect note.

“I have inherited a very good horse off Keith Dalgleish,” said O’Meara. “It is his third start for me now and I can’t take a great deal of credit for him.

“His owner and former trainer know him far better than I do, but I am lucky enough to have him today. We are going to miss Keith - he will be a loss to Scottish racing and it could just have easily been him standing here.

“The Ayr Gold Cup will be a good target for Aberama Gold and between now and then I am not certain as it is seven weeks to Ayr. I will speak to Evan [Sutherland, owner] as he is very good at figuring out where he likes to campaign his horses.”

WITH the meeting abandoned due to the state of the ground after the Stewards’ Cup, Tom Marquand found himself finishing ahead in the jockey standings at the meeting, although in somewhat fortuitous circumstances, as he came in for this ride on Sumo Sam at the last minute, with intended rider Neil Callan unable to make the weight without the benefit of an on-course sauna.

Both Callan and Marquand have been notably vocal in their opposition to the controversial BHA rule introduced in late 2021 to ban saunas from weighing rooms across Britain.

With the winning jockey’s earnings from the race amounting to over £14,000 (8.5% of win prize money), this is a facet of the sauna ban which hits home hard, and while Marquand was naturally delighted to have picked up the Group 2 prize and the earnings that come with it, Callan made no secret of his frustration, once again bringing the controversial issue into sharp focus.

Ralph Beckett was crowned leading trainer at the Qatar Goodwood Festival for the first time; Beckett and John Quinn both ended the meeting on three winners, with the Kimpton Down handler taking the spoils by virtue of more seconds, although Quinn’s achievement deserves special mention, with his three winners and two places coming from just five runners at the fixture.